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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Virginia Unemployment Holds Steady at 6%

The slowdown in the economic recovery showed up in Virginia's unemployment figures for June.

The state's jobless rate held steady at 6 percent from May to June. Yet the number of unemployed people increased by 1,534 and the state's overall labor force declined by 2,848 after nine months of expansion, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Friday.

"We have had a deceleration the last couple of months," said Ann Lang, senior economist for the commission. "The recovery is just slow."

The 6 percent jobless rate is an adjusted figure accounting for seasonal fluctuations.

When not adjusted for seasonal factors, the state's jobless rate rose from a revised 5.9 percent in May to 6.3 percent in June. The commission attributed the increase to students and new graduates looking for work, which helped swell the number of unemployed by 17,674.

The seasonally unadjusted figures also showed nonfarm payroll employment gains of about 11,100 in the state. Yet June's job gains were the weakest in five months, and the number of jobs added in the state in May was revised downward from 18,800 to 14,200.

The leisure and hospitality industry led the hiring in June by ramping up its employment by 16,600 for the summer travel season. Other industry sectors adding jobs in June, according to the unadjusted figures, included manufacturing, construction, and professional and business services.

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On Friday we reported that Maryland’s unemployment rate had risen to 7% and that MD was tied with Kansas for the highest rate of job loss.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Obama is throwing another party to celebrate his attempts to take down the greatest country in the world by his PISS POOR MANAGEMENT SKILLS that have created this HIGH unemployement.