Virginia’s jobless rate rises to 4 percent

Virginia’s unemployment rate rose slightly in September to 4 percent, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.

The commonwealth’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point from August. Nonetheless, the September rate still was two-tenths of a percentage point lower than the same month last year.

The national unemployment rate for September was 5 percent.

The number of people seeking work in Virginia and the number of people actually working rose during September. The number of unemployed people rose by 6,218, or 3.8 percent, during the month.

The commonwealth’s total nonfarm employment increased by 13,400 jobs to 3,945,300. The number of private jobs rose by 14,500 to 3.2 million while the number of public-sector positions declined by 1,100 jobs to 716,000.

During September, employment increased in seven major industry divisions and decreased in four others. The biggest increase was in the leisure and hospitality industry, up 5,800 jobs to 393,200.

In the past 12 months (September 2015 to September 2016), Virginia has added 81,100 jobs, an increase of 2.1 percent.

Northern Virginia accounted for 32,100 of those jobs while the Richmond area recorded a gain of 19,500 positions.