Fairfax’s unemployment rate dropped by two ticks of a percentage point from June to July, according to new state data.
With 657,325 county residents counted in the civilian workforce and 15,382 looking for work, the county’s jobless rate stood at 2.3 percent, according to figures reported Aug. 30 by the Virginia Employment Commission.
That’s down from 2.5 percent in June and a decline from 2.6 percent a year before.
Fairfax’s trajectory was emulated across Northern Virginia, where jobless rates from June to July declined from 2.1 percent to 1.9 percent in Arlington; from 2.2 percent to 2.1 percent in Alexandria; from 2.3 percent to 2.1 percent in Falls Church; from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent in Loudoun County; and from 2.7 percent to 2.5 percent in Prince William County.
For Northern Virginia as a whole, the jobless rate of 2.3 percent in July – representing 1,736,841 in the workforce and 41,422 seeking jobs – was down from 2.5 percent a month before and 2.6 percent a year ago.
Highland County again topped Arlington to post the best jobs picture in Virginia, with an unemployment rate of 1.6 percent. Following Arlington were the trio of Madison County and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church at 2.1 percent each.
Petersburg (4.8%), Danville (4.6%) and Martinsville and Norton (4.5%) recorded the highest rates for the month.
Statewide, 74 of the 133 cities and counties reported unemployment rates below 3 percent, with 11 recording rates above 4 percent.
Statewide, the jobless rate of 2.7 percent in July was down a tick from 2.8 percent a month before and more than a percentage point below the national rate of 3.8 percent.
July 2023 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
D.C. Region One of (Almost) Half in Nation to Record Lower Unemployment: The Washington region was among a declining number of metro corridors across the country to see lower year-over-year unemployment rates, according to data reported Aug. 29 by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With 3,554,325 counted in the civilian workforce and 85,602 looking for jobs, the region’s unemployment rate of 2.4 percent was down from 2.5 percent a month previously and 3.1 percent a year before.
The Washington region was among 192 metro areas to see lower year-over-year joblessness. Another 176 metro areas recorded higher year-over-year joblessness, with 21 unchanged.
Twelve of those 339 metro areas had jobless rates under 2 percent, while five had rates of 8 percent or higher.
The national unemployment rate for the month was 3.8 percent, with 233 metro areas below that figure, 138 above it and 18 equal to it.
Of all metro areas, the lowest jobless rates for July were recorded in Sioux Falls, S.D. (1.4%) and Burlington, Vt. (1.5%). The highest rate was found in El Centro, Calif. (17.7%).
Among metro areas with more than a million residents, Baltimore reported the lowest jobless rate for the second consecutive month (1.7%) with the highest rate reported in Las Vegas (6.1%).
In terms of non-farm payroll employment, the biggest year-over-year growth in raw numbers came from the metro areas of New York City (+227,000), Dallas-Fort Worth (+178,600) and Los Angeles (+153,600).
In percentage terms, the highest year-over-year growth in non-farm employment came in Midland, Texas (up 6.3%) with the biggest decline in Elkhart, Ind. (down 4.3%).
Virginia’s unemployment rate in July stood at 2.7 percent, down from 2.8 percent a month before and 3 percent a year ago.
For the month, a total of 4,665,920 Virginia residents were counted in the civilian workforce, with 123,738 looking for jobs.
Among the metropolitan areas of Virginia outside the local area, jobless rates ranged from 2.5 percent (Winchester and Charlottesville) to 3.2 percent (Lynchburg).
