Fairfax County’s jobless rate declined slightly from August to September, part of a regional trend that saw little to no month-over-month movement up or down.
With 649,140 employed in the civilian workforce and 17,187 looking for jobs, the county’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for September, according to figures reported Nov. 1 by the Virginia Employment Commission.
That compares to 2.7 percent in August. A year before (September 2022) the rate was 2.5 percent.
Local rates were reported Nov. 1 by the Virginia Employment Commission.
It was a month of little movement in jobless rates across Northern Virginia. Month-over-month rates were unchanged in Arlington (2.2%), Alexandria (2.4%) and Loudoun County (2.7%) and declined slightly in Falls Church (from 2.5% to 2.3%) and Prince William County (from 2.9% to 2.8%).
Across Northern Virginia as a whole, the jobless rate rose from 2.6 percent in August to 2.7 percent in September, with 1.72 million in the civilian workforce and about 46,600 looking for work.
Among Virginia’s 131 cities and counties, only Bath County (2.1%) had a lower jobless rate than Arlington. Falls Church was right behind at 2.3 percent and then six localities tied at 2.4 percent.
On the other end of the equation, the highest rates were turned in in Petersburg (5.7%) and Martinsville and Danville (4.7% each).
Statewide, the jobless rate of 3 percent in September was down from 3.1 percent in August and unchanged from a year before. Non-farm employment rose 51,000 (1.2%) over the year, with 36,200 of those additional jobs coming in the private sector. Total jobs were up in all parts of the commonwealth, led by the Harrisonburg metro area at +3.9 percent, with the exception of Hampton Roads, which was unchanged.
Initial jobless claims statewide in September stood at 8,688, down from 12,073 a year before. The commonwealth’s labor-participation rate edged up 0.1 point to 66.8 percent.
Metro Area Posts Lower Year-Over-Year Joblessness: The Washington metropolitan area defied an emerging national trend and managed to record lower year-over-year joblessness in September than it had a year before, according to new federal data.
With 3,510,773 counted in the civilian workforce and 92,193 recorded as seeking jobs, the region’s unemployment rate of 2.6 percent was down from 2.7 percent from a year before and down from 2.9 percent in September 2022.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released metro-area-level jobless data on Nov. 1.
The Washington region was one of the 131 metro areas across the nation to report year-over-year declines in joblessness. But in a sign economic health may not be quite as robust as some suggest, 231 metro areas posted higher unemployment. (An additional 27 were unchanged.)
Among all 389 metro areas, the lowest jobless rates (1.4% in each case) were recorded in Bismarck, N.D., and Fargo, N.D. The highest metro-area rate (21.1%) was reported in El Centro, Calif.
Among the nation’s 51 metro area with populations of a million or more, the lowest joblessness was reported out of Baltimore (1.8%) with the highest in Las Vegas (5.7%).
Nationally, September’s non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 3.6 percent was up from 3.3 percent a year before. Among metro areas, 234 reported jobless rates below the national average, 138 above it and 17 equal to it.
In Virginia, September’s jobless rate of 3 percent was unchanged from a month before and down from 3.1 percent a year before. Rates ranged from 2.7 percent (in the Winchester, Harrisonburg and Waynesboro/Staunton metro corridors) to 3.5 percent (Richmond).
In terms of non-farm employment, 64 metro areas saw year-over-year increases in September, one posted a decline and 234 essentially were unchanged.
On a percentage basis, Charleston, S.C. (5.3%) and Midland, Texas (4.9%) had the largest year-over-year increases in non-farm employment. In raw figures, the top three gainers among metro areas were New York City (+201,600), Dallas-Fort Worth (+178,300) and Los Angeles (+143,300).
