Jobless rates remained largely unchanged in December

Published February 3, 2016 by Robert Powell, III

Unemployment rates in Virginia’s metro areas largely remained unchanged in December when compared to November.

The Virginia Employment Commission reported on Wednesday that eight of the commonwealth’s 11 metro areas saw no change in their jobless rates during December.

Three areas reported declines, all by only one-tenth of a percentage point. They were the Richmond, Roanoke and Winchester areas.

All statistics in the report were not seasonally adjusted. That means they do take into account seasonal fluctuations in the labor market.

Using figure that are not seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate for Virginia during December was 3.9 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from November.

The national jobless rate using these not seasonally adjusted figures was 4.8 percent, unchanged from November.

A breakdown on unemployment rates by metro area shows:

Bristol: 4.3 percent in December, unchanged from November.
Charlottesville: 3.3 percent, unchanged.
Hampton Roads: 4.5 percent, unchanged.
Harrisonburg: 3.9 percent, unchanged.
Lynchburg: 4.3 percent, unchanged.
New River Valley: 3.9 percent, unchanged.
Northern Virginia: 3.2 percent, unchanged,
Richmond: 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent.
Roanoke: 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent.
Staunton-Waynesboro: 3.9 percent, unchanged.
Winchester: 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent.