Virginia’s statewide employment rate remains unchanged

Published May 28, 2015 by Jessica Sabbath

Virginia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 4.8 percent in April, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.

The labor force expanded for the fourth consecutive month, by 7,241 workers from March. Virginia’s adjusted unemployed rate remains below the April national unemployment rate of 5.4 percent.

Virginia’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased by 17,300 jobs from March 2015 to April 2015 to a total of 3,802,900, pushing employment to its highest level on record. In April, private sector employment increased by 13,800 jobs, while public sector jobs increased by 3,500 jobs over the year.

Between March 2015 and April 2015, employment increased in seven major industry divisions and fell in four.  The largest gains were in education and health services (5,700 jobs), professional and business services (5,000 jobs) and construction (5,000 jobs).

During the same time period, employment fell in mining (100 jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (2,000 jobs), information (400 jobs) and miscellaneous services (700 jobs).

Virginia’s unadjusted data decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 4.6 percent in April and was 0.2 percent below the April 2014 rate.