RICHMOND— Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 2.5%, which is 0.1 percentage points below the rate from a year ago. According to household survey data in July, the labor force increased by 8,981 to 4,597,232 as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 8,956 to 116,224. The number of employed residents increased by 17,937 to 4,481,008. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 1.0 percentage points below the national rate, which decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5%.
The Commonwealth’s labor force participation rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 66.7% in July. The labor force participation rate measures the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older that is employed or actively looking for work.
In July, Virginia’s nonagricultural employment, from the monthly establishment survey increased by 1,400 to 4,147,100. June’s preliminary estimate of employment, after revision, decreased by 700 to 4,145,700. In July, private sector employment increased by 200 to 3,412,200 while government employment increased by 1,200 to 734,900. Within that sector, federal government jobs decreased by 300 to 185,400, state government employment increased by 500 to 160,300, and local government increased by 1,000 to 389,200 over the month.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment data is produced for eleven industry sectors. In July, four experienced over-the-month job gains, two remained unchanged, and five experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Education and Health Services (+1,500) to 577,100. The second largest job gain occurred in Construction (+1,400) to 213,600. The third largest job gain occurred in Government (+1,200) to 734,900. The other gain was in Information (+700) to 72,400.
The largest job loss occurred in Professional and Business Services (-2,100) to 811,900. The second largest job loss occurred in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-700) to 666,100. The third largest job loss occurred in Manufacturing (-300) to 246,600. The other losses were in Leisure and Hospitality (-200) to 406,300 and Miscellaneous Services (-100) to 195,100.
Financial Activities and Mining and Logging remained unchanged.
Nonfarm Employment in Virginia*
Seasonally Adjusted
|
Industry |
Employment |
June 2023 to |
July 2022 to |
||||
|
July |
June |
July |
Change |
% Change |
Change |
% Change |
|
|
Total Nonfarm |
4,147,100 |
4,145,700 |
4,082,700 |
1,400 |
0.0% |
64,400 |
1.6% |
|
Total Private |
3,412,200 |
3,412,000 |
3,367,200 |
200 |
0.0% |
45,000 |
1.3% |
|
Goods Producing |
467,300 |
466,200 |
462,200 |
1,100 |
0.2% |
5,100 |
1.1% |
|
Mining and Logging |
7,100 |
7,100 |
7,100 |
0 |
0.0% |
0 |
0.0% |
|
Construction |
213,600 |
212,200 |
209,500 |
1,400 |
0.7% |
4,100 |
2.0% |
|
Manufacturing |
246,600 |
246,900 |
245,600 |
-300 |
-0.1% |
1,000 |
0.4% |
|
Service-Providing |
3,679,800 |
3,679,500 |
3,620,500 |
300 |
0.0% |
59,300 |
1.6% |
|
Private Service Providing |
2,944,900 |
2,945,800 |
2,905,000 |
-900 |
-0.0% |
39,900 |
1.4% |
|
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities |
666,100 |
666,800 |
667,800 |
-700 |
-0.1% |
-1,700 |
-0.3% |
|
Information |
72,400 |
71,700 |
70,200 |
700 |
1.0% |
2,200 |
3.1% |
|
Financial Activities |
216,000 |
216,000 |
217,200 |
0 |
0.0% |
-1,200 |
-0.6% |
|
Professional and Business Services |
811,900 |
814,000 |
809,300 |
-2,100 |
-0.3% |
2,600 |
0.3% |
|
Education and Health Services |
577,100 |
575,600 |
556,700 |
1,500 |
0.3% |
20,400 |
3.7% |
|
Leisure and Hospitality |
406,300 |
406,500 |
393,000 |
-200 |
-0.0% |
13,300 |
3.4% |
|
Miscellaneous Services |
195,100 |
195,200 |
190,800 |
-100 |
-0.1% |
4,300 |
2.3% |
|
Government |
734,900 |
733,700 |
715,500 |
1,200 |
0.2% |
19,400 |
2.7% |
|
Federal Government |
185,400 |
185,700 |
187,000 |
-300 |
-0.2% |
-1,600 |
-0.9% |
|
State Government |
160,300 |
159,800 |
152,300 |
500 |
0.3% |
8,000 |
5.3% |
|
Local Government |
389,200 |
388,200 |
376,200 |
1,000 |
0.3% |
13,000 |
3.5% |
*Current month’s estimates are preliminary.
From July 2022 to July 2023, the VEC estimates that total nonfarm employment in Virginia increased by 64,400 to 4,147,100, private sector employment increased by 45,000 to 3,412,200, and government employment increased by 19,400 to 734,900 jobs. Within that sector, federal government jobs decreased by 1,600 to 185,400, state government employment increased by 8,000 to 160,300, and local government increased by 13,000 to 389,200 over the year.
For the eleven industry sectors in Virginia over the year, eight experienced over-the-year job gains, one remained unchanged, and two experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Education and Health Services (+20,400) to 577,100. The second largest job gain occurred in Government (+19,400) to 734,900. The third largest job gain occurred in Leisure and Hospitality (+13,300) to 406,300. The other gains were in Miscellaneous Services (+4,300) to 195,100; Construction (+4,100) to 213,600; Professional and Business Services (+2,600) to 811,900; Information (+2,200) to 72,400; and Manufacturing (+1,000) to 246,600.
The largest job loss occurred in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-1,700) to 666,100. The second largest job loss occurred in Financial Activities (-1,200) to 216,000. Mining and Logging remained unchanged.
Total Nonfarm Employment in Virginia*
Seasonally Adjusted
|
Area |
Employment |
June 2023to |
July 2022 to |
||||
|
July |
June |
July |
Change |
% Change |
Change |
% Change |
|
|
Virginia |
4,147,100 |
4,145,700 |
4,082,700 |
1,400 |
0.0% |
64,400 |
1.6% |
|
Blacksburg-Christiansburg- |
81,100 |
81,200 |
80,900 |
-100 |
-0.1% |
200 |
0.2% |
|
Charlottesville MSA |
124,200 |
123,600 |
120,900 |
600 |
0.5% |
3,300 |
2.7% |
|
Harrisonburg MSA |
72,000 |
72,000 |
69,900 |
0 |
0.0% |
2,100 |
3.0% |
|
Lynchburg MSA |
105,100 |
105,300 |
103,600 |
-200 |
-0.2% |
1,500 |
1.4% |
|
Northern Virginia MSA |
1,570,600 |
1,569,800 |
1,540,000 |
800 |
0.1% |
30,600 |
2.0% |
|
Richmond MSA |
713,200 |
710,900 |
701,200 |
2,300 |
0.3% |
12,000 |
1.7% |
|
Roanoke MSA |
165,000 |
164,900 |
162,400 |
100 |
0.1% |
2,600 |
1.6% |
|
Staunton MSA |
53,400 |
53,300 |
52,100 |
100 |
0.2% |
1,300 |
2.5% |
|
Virginia Beach-Norfolk- |
793,300 |
797,000 |
790,300 |
-3,700 |
-0.5% |
3,000 |
0.4% |
|
Winchester MSA |
70,400 |
70,700 |
69,700 |
-300 |
-0.4% |
700 |
1.0% |
*Current month’s estimates are preliminary.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment data is produced for ten metropolitan areas. In July, five experienced over-the-month job gains, one remained unchanged, and four experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Richmond (+2,300) to 713,200. The second largest job gain occurred in Northern Virginia (+800) to 1,570,600. The third largest job gain occurred in Charlottesville (+600) to 124,200. The other gains were in Roanoke (+100) to 165,000; and Staunton (+100) to 53,400.
The largest job loss occurred in Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News (-3,700) to 793,300. The second largest job loss occurred in Winchester (-300) to 70,400. The third largest job loss occurred in Lynchburg (-200) to 105,100. The other loss was in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford (-100) to 81,100. Harrisonburg remained unchanged.
Over the year, all experienced over-the-year job gains, and none experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Northern Virginia (+30,600) to 1,570,600. The second largest job gain occurred in Richmond (+12,000) to 713,200. The third largest job gain occurred in Charlottesville (+3,300) to 124,200. The other gains were in Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News (+3,000) to 793,300; Roanoke (+2,600) to 165,000; Harrisonburg (+2,100) to 72,000; Lynchburg (+1,500) to 105,100; Staunton (+1,300) to 53,400; Winchester (+700) to 70,400; and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford (+200) to 81,100.
Not Seasonally Adjusted Data
Virginia’s unadjusted unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 2.7% in July. It has decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 2.7% compared to last year. Compared to a year ago, the number of unemployed decreased by 11,797 to 123,738, household employment increased by 187,642 to 4,532,182, and the labor force increased by 175,845 to 4,655,920. Virginia’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 1.1 percentage points below the national unadjusted rate, which remained unchanged at 3.8%.
Compared to last month, the July unadjusted workweek for Virginia’s 162,200 manufacturing production workers remained unchanged at 41.7 hours. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production workers increased by $0.39 to $25.08, and average weekly earnings increased by $16.27 to $1,045.84.
###
Technical note: Estimates of unemployment and industry employment levels are obtained from two separate monthly surveys. Resident employment and unemployment data are mainly derived from the Virginia portion of the national Current Population Survey (CPS), a household survey conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau under contract with BLS, which provides input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program (often referred to as the “household” survey). Industry employment data is mainly derived from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, a monthly survey of approximately 18,000 Virginia businesses conducted by BLS, which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data broken down by industry for the nation as a whole, all states and most major metropolitan areas (often referred to as the “establishment” survey). Both industry and household estimates are revised each month based on additional information from updated survey reports compiled by the BLS. For national figures and information on how COVID-19 affected collection of the BLS establishment and household surveys in April 2020, refer to the BLS July Employment Situation press release for details.
The statistical reference week for the household survey this month was the week of July 9-15, 2023.
The Virginia Employment Commission plans to release the July local area unemployment rates on Wednesday August 30, 2023. The data will be available on our website www.VirginiaWorks.com. The August 2023 statewide unemployment rate and employment data for both the state and metropolitan areas are scheduled to be released on Tuesday September 19, 2023.
Files detailing July’s unemployment numbers are available below:
PDF of Press Release