Va. Jobless Rate Fell in July
Posted on: Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 15:00 CDT
Aug. 31--Virginia's unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent in July -- the lowest for the month in four years -- as thousands of students who entered the job market in June either found work or stopped looking.
The state's unemployment rate fell from 3.8 percent in June as the number of jobless workers dropped by 11,500 to 139,300, the Virginia Employment Commission reported yesterday. The July jobless rate has not been so low since July 2001, when it was 3.3 percent.
June's unemployment rate was inflated by students looking for summer work, but "the summer job market in Virginia was generally the best in the last four years," said Bill Mezger, the VEC's chief economist.
"About the only cloud on the horizon is rapidly rising fuel prices, and it is a little bit early to say yet what that is going to do to employment," he said. Rising fuel prices could affect discretionary spending, which could hurt employment later in the year, especially during the holiday season.
Unemployment declined in nine of Virginia's 10 metropolitan areas in July. The Richmond area's rate dropped to 3.7 percent in July from 4 percent in June. The local rate was also 4 percent in July 2004.
Richmond's rate of job growth in July was about 2.9 percent, outpacing the state rate of 1.3 percent. Job cuts at Capital One Financial Corp. have affected the financial sector, but the region is still seeing growth in health care, education and construction.
The construction industry added 4,000 jobs in the state to reach another record employment level of 248,700. Employment also rose in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, information, and trade and transportation. Financial-sector employment declined by 1,100 to 193,800.
Manufacturing employment was down by 2,100 jobs to 297,100 because of temporary layoffs from some plants. Those furloughs, which are normal for summer months, typically involved about 10 percent fewer workers this summer compared with last year, Mezger said.
"Manufacturing seems to be holding its own overall after seven or eight years of decline," he said. The state is still losing employment in nondurable goods and textiles, but it has gained employment or held steady in some durable goods and the defense industry.
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Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch
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