It came as no surprise, but Fairfax County’s jobless rate joined the rest of Northern Virginia in ticking upward to start the year.
With 627,732 county residents counted in the civilian workforce and 17,591 looking for jobs, Fairfax’s unemployment rate of 2.7 percent in January was up from 2.5 a month before.
Unemployment figures were released March 17 by the Virginia Employment Commission.
The bump up in joblesseness was not unexpected, given the season end flow of the jobs market. Nor was it unique to Fairfax: From December to January, unemployment rates grew from 1.9 percent to 2.2 percent in Arlington; from 2 percent to 2.5 percent in Falls Church; from 2.1 percent to 2.7 percent in Alexandria; From 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent in Loudoun County; and from 2.4 to 3 percent in Prince William County.
For Northern Virginia as a whole, the jobless rate of 2.8 percent was up from 2.3 percent a month before, and represented about 1.66 million employed and just under 48,000 looking for jobs.
Northern Virginia localities largely posted the best jobs picture for the month in Virginia, with Arlington and Falls Church coming in at #1 and #2, followed by a five-way tie (Alexandria, the city of Fairfax, Fairfax County, Hanover County and Loudoun County) at 2.7 percent. On the other end of the scale, Northumberland County had the highest jobless rate in Virginia for the month (6.9%), followed by the city of Petersburg (6.2%).
Statewide, Virginia’s jobless rate of 3.2 percent was up from 2.6 percent a month before and compared to 2.9 percent in January 2022. Nationally, the jobless rate of 3.9 was up from 3.3 percent a month before but down from 4.4 percent in January 2022.
The most recent month’s figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
Metro Area’s Joblessness Up in New Data: The Washington metropolitan area’s unemployment rate ticked up from December to January, according to new data, but was down from a year before and almost a whole point below the national average.
With 3,439,904 counted in the civilian workforce and 103,918 looking for jobs, the Washington region’s unemployment rate stood at 3 percent in January, up from 2.5 percent in December 2022 but down from 3.5 percent in January 2022. Figures were reported March 17 by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nationally, year-over-year jobless rates were down in 297 of the nation’s 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 73 and unchanged in 19. A total of 214 localities had rates below the national, non-seasonally-adjusted rate of 3.9 percent, while 162 were above it and 13 were equal to it.
(The national rate of 3.9% was down from 4.4% a year before.)
Among all metro areas, two in South Dakota – Rapid City and Sioux Falls – shared the lowest jobless rate in the country for the month, at 1.9 percent. El Centro, Calif., had the highest, at 16.2 percent, followed by Ocean City, N.J., at 11.7 percent.
Among metros with populations above a million, the lowest rate was reported in Miami (2.3%) and the highest in Las Vegas (5.9%).
In Virginia, the unemployment rate of 3.2 percent for the month represented 4.476,141 in the civilian workforce and 144,983 looking for jobs. The rate was up from 2.6 percent in December and from 2.9 percent a year before.
Among the commonwealth’s various metro areas, the lowest jobless rate was turned in by Staunton/Waynesboro (3%) and the highest by Lynchburg (3.8%).
In terms of non-farm payroll employment, totals were higher than a year before in 135 metro areas across the nation and essentially unchanged in the remainder.
Counting year-over-year changes, Midland, Texas, had the highest increase in jobs, at 11.4 percent, followed by Odessa, Texas, at 7.8 percent and Napa, Calif., at 6.9 percent.
Data: N.Va. Economy Picks up Nearly 49,000 Jobs in a Year: Northern Virginia’s economy was up 48,600 jobs year-over-year in January, according to new data, slightly ahead of the statewide rebound.
There were a total of 1,556,900 in the non-farm-employment ranks in January across the local region, up from 1,508,300 a year before, according to figures reported by the Virginia Employment Commission.
(January’s figure represented a modest increase, up 7,000, from December 2022.)
Statewide, total non-farm employment in January stood at 4,131,600 in January, up 19,700 from a month before and up 118,900 (or 3%) from a year ago.
Private-sector employment was up 109,900 (3.3%) to 3,411,900, while public-sector jobs totaled 719,400, up 9,000 (1.3%).
Among Virginia’s metropolitan areas, all showed more year-over-year increases in employment, with the Richmond region (28,600) and Hampton Roads (16,500) having the largest numerical jumps outside Northern Virginia and Staunton-Waynesboro (up 4.7%) and Harrisonburg (4.4%) having the largest gains on a percentage basis.
