Virginia’s Nonfarm Employment Increased by 8,600 in November; Unemployment Rate at 3.5 Percent

January 7, 2026

Virginia’s Nonfarm Employment Increased by 8,600 in November;
Unemployment Rate at 3.5 Percent

RICHMOND— Virginia Works – the Commonwealth’s Department of Workforce Development and Advancement – announced today that Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in November was unchanged from September at 3.5 percent, 1.1 percentage points below the national rate, which increased by 0.2 percentage points from September to 4.6 percent.

In November’s Current Employment Statistics Survey, Virginia’s nonagricultural employment increased by 8,600 to 4,268,100; private sector employment increased by 7,200 to 3,514,300 while government employment increased by 1,400 to 753,800. Within that sector, federal government jobs decreased by 200 to 173,200, state government employment increased by 100 to 162,900, and local government increased by 1,500 to 417,700 over the month.

Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment data is produced for eleven industry sectors. In November, six experienced over-the-month job gains, and four experienced a decline, while one was unchanged. The largest job gain occurred in Professional and Business Services (+4,400) to 811,000. The second largest job gain occurred in Government (+1,400) to 753,800. The third largest job gain occurred in Construction (+1,300) to 229,100. The other gains were in Education and Health Services (+900) to 642,000, Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+800) to 682,500, and Financial Activities (+300) to 222,100.
The largest job loss occurred in Information (-200) to 68,700. Other job losses occurred in Leisure and Hospitality (-100) to 407,000, Manufacturing (-100) to 236,000, and Mining and Logging (-100) to 7,000. Miscellaneous Services was unchanged at 208,900.

According to household survey data in November, the labor force decreased by 12,851 from September to 4,527,441 as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 689 over that period to 159,510. The number of employed residents decreased by 12,162 to 4,367,931, according to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (“the household survey”).

The Commonwealth’s labor force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points from September to 64.3 percent in November. The labor force participation rate measures the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older that is employed or actively looking for work. Over-the-month comparisons are not possible because October 2025 household survey data was not collected by BLS during the federal government shutdown.

*Current month’s estimates are preliminary.

From November 2024 to November 2025, Virginia Works estimates that total nonfarm employment in Virginia increased by 8,400 to 4,268,100, private sector employment increased by 16,400 to 3,514,300, and government employment decreased by 8,000 to 753,800 jobs. Within that sector, federal government jobs decreased by 22,400 to 173,200, state government employment increased by 900 to 162,900, and local government increased by 13,500 to 417,700 over the year.

For the eleven industry sectors in Virginia over the year, five experienced over-the-year job gains, and six experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Education and Health Services (+21,300) to 642,000. The second largest job gain occurred in Construction (+7,300) to 229,100. The third largest job gain occurred in Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+4,000) to 682,500. The other gains were in Miscellaneous Services (+3,400) to 208,900 and Financial Activities (+800) to 222,100.
The largest job loss occurred in Leisure and Hospitality (-8,300) to 407,000. The second largest job loss occurred in Government (-8,000) to 753,800. The third largest job loss occurred in Manufacturing (-6,800) to 236,000. The fourth largest job loss occurred in Professional and Business Services (-3,000) to 811,000. The fifth largest job loss occurred in Information (-1,900) to 68,700. The other loss was in Mining and Logging (-400) to 7,000.

*Current month’s estimates are preliminary.

Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment data is produced for ten metropolitan areas. In November, six experienced over-the-month job gains, two experienced losses, and two experienced declines. The largest job gain occurred in Arlington-Alexandria (+5,900) to 1,625,200. The second largest job gain occurred in Roanoke (+500) to 168,400. The third and fourth largest job gains occurred in Charlottesville (+300) to 126,700 and Richmond (+300) to 728,100. Other gains included Lynchburg (+100) to 104,100 and Winchester (+100) to 74,600. Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford and Harrisonburg were unchanged at 82,600 and 70,400, respectively. The largest job loss occurred in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk (-500) to 817,300. The second largest job loss occurred in Staunton (-100) to 53,900.

Over the year, four metro areas experienced over-the-year job gains and six experienced a decline. The largest job gain occurred in Richmond (+3,400) to 728,100. The second largest job gain occurred in Charlottesville (+1,600) to 126,700. The third largest job gain occurred in Winchester (+1,400) to 74,600. The other gain was in Staunton (+100) to 53,900. The largest job loss occurred in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk (-9,500) to 817,300. The second largest job loss occurred in Arlington-Alexandria (-8,200) to 1,625,200. The third largest job loss occurred in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford (-1,100) to 82,600. Other losses include Harrisonburg (-1,000) to 70,400, Lynchburg (-200) to 104,100, and Roanoke (-200) to 168,400.

Not Seasonally Adjusted Data

Virginia’s unadjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage points from September to 3.9 percent in November. It has increased by 1.0 percentage points compared to November 2024. Compared to the year before, the number of unemployed increased by 41,179 to 173,136, household employment decreased by 128,014 to 4,310,375, and the labor force decreased by 86,835 to 4,483,511. Virginia’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 0.4 percentage points below the national unadjusted rate.

Compared to last month, the November unadjusted workweek for Virginia’s 152,900 manufacturing production workers decreased by 0.1 to 39.0 hours. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production workers increased by $0.59 to $28.98, and average weekly earnings increased by $20.17 to $1,130.22.

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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 November 9-15, 2025.

Nov 25 CES Distribution Publication File