Hiring Up,More Virginians Looking for Employment, December Jobs Report Shows

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced the number of employed residents rose by 4,485 to 4,228,407 in December 2022. According to BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (“LAUS”, or “the household survey”), the labor force in Virginia increased by 9,611 to 4,357,319.

Since January 2022, nearly 90,000 more Virginians are employed. More Virginians moved off the sidelines begin and looking for a job in December; and the Commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 3.0 percent which remains below the national rate of 3.5 percent. During the month, the number of unemployed residents increased by 5,126 to 128,912 but the overall number is down 10,422 since January 2022. 

"Throughout the first year of our administration, job growth in Virginia was overwhelmingly led by the private sector--providing 86 percent of year-over-year job growth--with our valuable defense and public sectors continuing their strong contributions as well,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “This encouraging report showed thousands of Virginians coming off the sidelines and getting back into the workforce. We remain laser-focused on improving Virginia’s competitive presence among states competing for jobs and businesses. As companies in Virginia continue to grow payrolls and drive our economy, we must keep moving forward to lower the cost of living and the cost of doing business in the Commonwealth.” 

Click here to read more.