Henrico's December unemployment rate held steady
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Henrico’s unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged from November to December last year, according to new data from the VEC. The county finished both months with an unemployment rate of 4.7%.
Henrico’s workforce shrank just slightly – by 157 people, to 176,683 – from November to December, the data showed. The number of people employed in the county also shrank slightly, from 168,604 to 168,330.
December’s unemployment rate in the county was about twice what it was in December 2019 (2.4%), the data showed.
More than 8,350 people were unemployed in Henrico this past December, compared with 4,400 in December 2019.
Henrico’s unemployment rate in December ranked it roughly in the middle of Virginia localities. Madison County (2.8% unemployment) led the state, while Petersburg (11.9%) had the highest rate.
During the most recent week of reporting, which ended Jan. 30, Henrico witnessed a slight decline in the number of county residents who filed first-time unemployment claims (309, down from 337 the previous week).
The number of Henricoans who filed continuing unemployment claims during the same week also dropped slightly, down to 2,055.
During a press briefing Friday in Richmond, Gov. Ralph Northam said that the VEC had served more than 1 million people during the past 10 months – more than it had served in the past 10 years combined.
