By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Nov. 2 — The Virginia Employment Commission released September 2022 Local Area Unemployment Rates on Wednesday showing Page County’s jobless claims fell in September to its lowest level of 2022, as the overall workforce and jobs shrunk slightly. Unemployment declined about a half-percent on average in month-to-month comparisons across the region, the commonwealth and the country from August to September.
With 322 claims for unemployment insurance among a workforce of 12,684 — Page County reported a jobless rate of 2.5 percent for September 2022. That represents a decrease of seven-tenths of a percent from August’s reported 3.2 percent. January’s 4.3 percent unemployment still stands as the highest of 2022 for Page. The previous low point for the year was April’s 2.8 percent.
Employment in Page County totaled 12,362 for September — a decrease of five jobs from August’s adjusted employment total of 12,367. There were 81 fewer unemployment claims filed in September versus the previous month. The civilian workforce in the county shrank by 86.
In September 2021, the county’s jobless rate stood at 3.9 percent with 470 unemployment claims filed. This September, Page County had 887 more people employed than it did a year ago.
The Lord Fairfax Planning District reported a regional unemployment rate of 2.29 percent for September 2022, a decrease from August’s 2.80 percent. The planning district reported a jobless rate of 2.89 percent in September 2021 with 3,557 claims for unemployment insurance, compared to 2,912 this September.
Arlington, Highland and Madison counties reported the lowest unemployment rate in Virginia for September at 1.8 percent. The City of Petersburg continued to report the highest unemployment rate in the commonwealth at 6.5 percent.
Here’s a look at September 2022 unemployment rates across the region and rankings among Virginia’s 133 localities:
• 1.8% — Madison County, 1st
• 2.1% — Frederick and Rappahannock counties, 8th
• 2.2% — Clarke and Rockingham counties, 15th
• 2.3% — Shenandoah County, 30th
• 2.5% — Page and Warren counties, and the City of Winchester, 55th
• 3.1% — City of Harrisonburg, 101st
Virginia posted a statewide unemployment rate of 2.6 percent for September 2022, down from 3.2 percent the previous month. One year ago, the Commonwealth posted a jobless rate of 3.4 percent with 143,288 unemployment claims. Those claims dropped to 111,147 this September.
The U.S. unemployment rate for September 2022 stood at 3.3 percent, down from 3.8 percent in August. Last year, U.S. unemployment for September was at 4.6 percent with 7.4 million out of work. This September, nationwide jobless claims dropped to less than 5.5 million.
For additional information on unemployment insurance in Virginia,
access the VEC’s U.I. claims data dashboard (https://www.vec.virginia.gov/ui-claims-dashboard)
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Dang that Joe Biden impacting our economy!