Virginia's unemployment rate held steady in January

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced recently that Virginia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.3% in January, while total non-farm payroll employment decreased by 4,900 jobs. The Commonwealth’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.3% is 1.5 percentage points below the rate from a year ago.

The commonwealth’s labor force participation rate increased slightly by 0.3 percentage points to 62.9% in January. The labor force participation rate measures the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older that is employed or actively looking for work.

“The economic growth that we have seen in recent months slowed slightly in January, but that’s no cause for worry,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “Our unemployment rate continues to be below the national rate, and our labor force participation rate rose to 62.9% last month.”

For details, visit the Virginia Employment Commission’s website at vec.virginia.gov.