Virginia jobless rate falls

Published September 18, 2015 by Robert Powell, III

Virginia’s unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point in August to 4.5 percent.

The Virginia Employment Commission released the seasonally adjusted figure on Friday, noting that the commonwealth’s August jobless rate is the lowest recorded since September 2008.

Virginia’s unemployment rate has fallen half a percentage point since August 2014. The national jobless rate for August was 5.1 percent.

The numbers are seasonally adjusted, meaning they take into account seasonal fluctuations in the labor force.

The commonwealth’s total nonfarm employment rate inched up 900 jobs in August to 3.82 million. By contrast, Virginia lost 3,000 jobs in July. The July job loss initially was reported as 2,500 jobs.

In August, the job gains came from the public sector, which added 1,300 positions, while the private sector lost 400 jobs.

VEC said employment rose in five industry divisions, fell in another five and remained unchanged, at 8,300 jobs, in mining.

The largest increase occurred in professional and business services, which rose 3,300 jobs to 687,400 in August.

The biggest drop occurred in construction, which declined 3,200 jobs in August to 183,800.