RICHMOND— Virginia Works – the Commonwealth’s Department of Workforce Development and Advancement – today announced that Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in August increased by 0.1 percentage points to 2.8 percent, which is 0.1 percentage points above the rate from a year ago. According to household survey data in August, the labor force decreased by 2,172 to 4,568,536 as the number of unemployed residents increased by 3,400 to 128,125. The number of employed residents decreased by 5,572 to 4,440,411. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 1.4 percentage points below the national rate, which decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent.
The Commonwealth’s labor force participation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 66.0 percent in August. 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 August, Virginia’s nonagricultural employment, from the monthly establishment survey decreased by 5,800 to 4,241,100. July’s preliminary estimate of employment, after revision, decreased by 9,300 to 4,246,900. In August, private sector employment decreased by 5,700 to 3,500,000 while government employment decreased by 100 to 741,100. Within that sector, federal government jobs increased by 100 to 192,100, state government employment decreased by 400 to 161,800, and local government increased by 200 to 387,200 over the month.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment data is produced for eleven industry sectors. In August, three experienced over-the-month job gains, and eight experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Leisure and Hospitality (+3,200) to 421,000. The second largest job gain occurred in Construction (+2,300) to 227,300. The third largest job gain occurred in Manufacturing (+500) to 250,300.
The largest job loss occurred in Professional and Business Services (-5,000) to 818,400. The second largest job loss occurred in Education and Health Services (-3,100) to 605,200. The third largest job loss occurred in Miscellaneous Services (-1,100) to 203,600. The other losses were in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-1,000) to 676,500; Financial Activities (-900) to 219,600; Information (-500) to 70,900; Government (-100) to 741,100; and Mining and Logging (-100) to 7,200.
Nonfarm Employment in Virginia*
Seasonally Adjusted
|
Industry |
Employment |
July 2024 to |
August 2023 to |
||||
|
August |
July |
August |
Change |
% Change |
Change |
% Change |
|
|
Total Nonfarm |
4,241,100 |
4,246,900 |
4,179,500 |
-5,800 |
-0.1% |
61,600 |
1.5% |
|
Total Private |
3,500,000 |
3,505,700 |
3,444,100 |
-5,700 |
-0.2% |
55,900 |
1.6% |
|
Goods Producing |
484,800 |
482,100 |
468,900 |
2,700 |
0.6% |
15,900 |
3.4% |
|
Mining and Logging |
7,200 |
7,300 |
7,300 |
-100 |
-1.4% |
-100 |
-1.4% |
|
Construction |
227,300 |
225,000 |
215,500 |
2,300 |
1.0% |
11,800 |
5.5% |
|
Manufacturing |
250,300 |
249,800 |
246,100 |
500 |
0.2% |
4,200 |
1.7% |
|
Service-Providing |
3,756,300 |
3,764,800 |
3,710,600 |
-8,500 |
-0.2% |
45,700 |
1.2% |
|
Private Service Providing |
3,015,200 |
3,023,600 |
2,975,200 |
-8,400 |
-0.3% |
40,000 |
1.3% |
|
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities |
676,500 |
677,500 |
672,500 |
-1,000 |
-0.1% |
4,000 |
0.6% |
|
Information |
70,900 |
71,400 |
70,300 |
-500 |
-0.7% |
600 |
0.9% |
|
Financial Activities |
219,600 |
220,500 |
222,900 |
-900 |
-0.4% |
-3,300 |
-1.5% |
|
Professional and Business Services |
818,400 |
823,400 |
809,400 |
-5,000 |
-0.6% |
9,000 |
1.1% |
|
Education and Health Services |
605,200 |
608,300 |
585,200 |
-3,100 |
-0.5% |
20,000 |
3.4% |
|
Leisure and Hospitality |
421,000 |
417,800 |
415,100 |
3,200 |
0.8% |
5,900 |
1.4% |
|
Miscellaneous Services |
203,600 |
204,700 |
199,800 |
-1,100 |
-0.5% |
3,800 |
1.9% |
|
Government |
741,100 |
741,200 |
735,400 |
-100 |
-0.0% |
5,700 |
0.8% |
|
Federal Government |
192,100 |
192,000 |
189,600 |
100 |
0.1% |
2,500 |
1.3% |
|
State Government |
161,800 |
162,200 |
154,000 |
-400 |
-0.2% |
7,800 |
5.1% |
|
Local Government |
387,200 |
387,000 |
391,800 |
200 |
0.1% |
-4,600 |
-1.2% |
*Current month’s estimates are preliminary.
From August 2023 to August 2024, Virginia Works estimates that total nonfarm employment in Virginia increased by 61,600 to 4,241,100, private sector employment increased by 55,900 to 3,500,000, and government employment increased by 5,700 to 741,100 jobs. Within that sector, federal government jobs increased by 2,500 to 192,100, state government employment increased by 7,800 to 161,800, and local government decreased by 4,600 to 387,200 over the year.
For the eleven industry sectors in Virginia over the year, nine experienced over-the-year job gains, and two experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Education and Health Services (+20,000) to 605,200. The second largest job gain occurred in Construction (+11,800) to 227,300. The third largest job gain occurred in Professional and Business Services (+9,000) to 818,400. The other gains were in Leisure and Hospitality (+5,900) to 421,000; Government (+5,700) to 741,100; Manufacturing (+4,200) to 250,300; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+4,000) to 676,500; Miscellaneous Services (+3,800) to 203,600; and Information (+600) to 70,900.
The largest job loss occurred in Financial Activities (-3,300) to 219,600. The second largest job loss occurred in Mining and Logging (-100) to 7,200.
Total Nonfarm Employment in Virginia*
Seasonally Adjusted
|
Area |
Employment |
July 2024 to |
August 2023 to |
||||
|
August |
July |
August |
Change |
% Change |
Change |
% Change |
|
|
Virginia |
4,241,100 |
4,246,900 |
4,179,500 |
-5,800 |
-0.1% |
61,600 |
1.5% |
|
Blacksburg-Christiansburg- |
85,500 |
85,700 |
83,100 |
-200 |
-0.2% |
2,400 |
2.9% |
|
Charlottesville MSA |
128,400 |
128,400 |
123,300 |
0 |
0.0% |
5,100 |
4.1% |
|
Harrisonburg MSA |
72,800 |
72,800 |
71,500 |
0 |
0.0% |
1,300 |
1.8% |
|
Lynchburg MSA |
106,600 |
106,700 |
104,000 |
-100 |
-0.1% |
2,600 |
2.5% |
|
Northern Virginia MSA |
1,595,100 |
1,597,700 |
1,579,500 |
-2,600 |
-0.2% |
15,600 |
1.0% |
|
Richmond MSA |
727,700 |
727,000 |
712,200 |
700 |
0.1% |
15,500 |
2.2% |
|
Roanoke MSA |
169,500 |
169,600 |
165,100 |
-100 |
-0.1% |
4,400 |
2.7% |
|
Staunton MSA |
54,200 |
54,000 |
53,800 |
200 |
0.4% |
400 |
0.7% |
|
Virginia Beach-Norfolk- |
819,900 |
823,400 |
808,400 |
-3,500 |
-0.4% |
11,500 |
1.4% |
|
Winchester MSA |
72,900 |
73,100 |
72,000 |
-200 |
-0.3% |
900 |
1.2% |
*Current month’s estimates are preliminary.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment data is produced for ten metropolitan areas. In August, two experienced over-the-month job gains, two remained unchanged, and six experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Richmond (+700) to 727,700. The second largest job gain occurred in Staunton (+200) to 54,200.
The largest job loss occurred in Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News (-3,500) to 819,900. The second largest job loss occurred in Northern Virginia (-2,600) to 1,595,100. The third largest job loss occurred in both Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford (-200) to 85,500 and Winchester (-200) to 72,900. The other losses were in Lynchburg (-100) to 106,600 and Roanoke (-100) to 169,500. Charlottesville and Harrisonburg remained unchanged.
Over the year, all metro areas experienced over-the-year job gains, and none experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Northern Virginia (+15,600) to 1,595,100. The second largest job gain occurred in Richmond (+15,500) to 727,700. The third largest job gain occurred in Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News (+11,500) to 819,900. The other gains were in Charlottesville (+5,100) to 128,400; Roanoke (+4,400) to 169,500; Lynchburg (+2,600) to 106,600; Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford (+2,400) to 85,500; Harrisonburg (+1,300) to 72,800; Winchester (+900) to 72,900; and Staunton (+400) to 54,200.
Not Seasonally Adjusted Data
Virginia’s unadjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.5 percent in August. It has increased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.5 percent compared to last year. Compared to a year ago, the number of unemployed increased by 14,488 to 159,313, household employment decreased by 13,669 to 4,413,655, and the labor force increased by 819 to 4,572,968. Virginia’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 0.9 percentage points below the national unadjusted rate, which decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent.
Compared to last month, the August unadjusted workweek for Virginia’s 159,700 manufacturing production workers decreased by 0.1 to 39.5 hours. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production workers increased by $0.41 to $27.07, and average weekly earnings increased by $13.53 to $1,069.27.
###
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 August Employment Situation press release for details.
The statistical reference week for the household survey this month was the week of August 11-17, 2024
Virginia Works plans to release the August local area unemployment rates on Wednesday October 02, 2024. The data will be available on our website www.VirginiaWorks.com. The September 2024 statewide unemployment rate and employment data for both the state and metropolitan areas are scheduled to be released on Tuesday October 22, 2024.
Files detailing August’s unemployment numbers are available below:
PDF of Press Release