Virginia’s labor market shifted in favor of employers in August, according to figures released last week.
Virginia’s unemployment rate increased by 0.1% in August to 2.8% — compared to 4.2% nationally — and 2,200 people left the labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS didn’t list Virginia among states with a significant change in unemployment.
There were 28,000 new job openings from June to July — an increase of 0.6%.
These numbers come as the Federal Reserve cut target interest rates by half a percent last week, signaling that it considered risks posed by inflation to be decreasing. While state-level data was released after the rate cut, the national jobs report from Sept. 6 was available to the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee while assessing a rate change.
Richmond Fed president Tom Barkin was among those on the committee voting for the decrease.
"Virginia's labor market softened in August as payroll employment declined, the labor force contracted, and the unemployment rate edged up compared to the prior month,” said Joe Mengedoth, a regional economist with the Richmond Fed, in an analysis released Monday.
Economists consider the labor market “tight,” meaning that employers have trouble hiring workers with desired skills or experience for the wages they're offering.
On Friday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration underscored it efforts on workforce development policies.
“While these numbers reflect some of the current national challenges in the labor market, we are committed to targeted job training programs, improved employment services, and strategies to engage more people in the workforce,” Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater wrote in a statement.
Virginia added 61,600 jobs in the past year, the governor's office said in the release.
The state’s 66% labor force participation rate is higher than the 62.7% national rate — and close to a recent high. The labor force participation rate is the proportion of the working-age population that is either working or actively looking for work. In Virginia, that figure is over 4 million people.
The commonwealth’s economy has a higher proportion of government-employed workers, both civilian and military, which make it less susceptible to fluctuations than the American economy at large. Virginia’s private sector is affected by this, as well, since Virginia’s the top destination of federal contract spending.
Spokespeople for Democratic leadership in the state Senate didn’t return a request for comment, and House Speaker Don Scott was not able to be reached.
The Fed also highlighted regional housing market figures it published Monday: New residential building permits in July increased by 20% from June and 25.6% since the previous year.
Consumer prices and the cost of living consistently poll at or near the top of issues of concern to voters — and have been a major subject on the campaign trail. Early voting in Virginia began last week.
BLS plans to release one more round of state employment and inflation figures before Election Day on Nov. 5.
