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Seasonal jobs and the end of strikes helped Virginia’s unemployment rate fall in April, despite the weak national economy.
Virginia’s unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage point, from 3.9 percent in March to 3.3 percent in April. Employment increased mostly because of the increase in tourism jobs, construction work and the end of the strike at the Volvo plant in Dublin. The end of the strike also meant workers at suppliers for the plant returned to work.
The April unemployment rate is above the 2.7 percent unemployment rate for April 2007. All of the state’s metropolitan areas saw a drop in unemployment. Northern Virginia retained the lowest unemployment rate at 2.6 percent. Danville had the highest at 6.3 percent, but that was down from 7.4 percent in March.
Out of the Virginia’s 134 localities, Arlington County had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.1 percent and Martinsville had the highest at 10.1 percent.
The Virginia Employment Commission said April typically has the lowest unemployment rate for the first half of a year. Unemployment rises often in May or June as college students graduate.
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