Richmond-area jobless rate hits 7.9% in June
Published: July 29, 2010
The Richmond region gained jobs between May and June but the number of the unemployed also rose over that time, the Virginia Employment Commission said.
The area's unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in June from 7.7 percent in May. A year ago, the rate was 8 percent -- and thousands more people were working.
But when the number is adjusted to reflect the usual late spring surge of students and graduates into the job market, the jobless rate actually went down, said Christine Chmura, president of Chmura Economics and Analytics.
"Part of it is you get kids coming out of school and seeing their friends are not getting jobs so they're not even looking, which brings the seasonally adjusted rate down," she said.
Chmura said her calculations show that the seasonally adjusted rate fell to 7.4 percent in June from 7.7 percent in May and has been declining fairly steadily since hitting a peak in March of 8.2 percent. The state does not adjust its data by season.
Overall, the number the state employment commission's monthly survey of households estimates as in the labor force -- that is, those who are working or have looked for a job within the past four weeks -- is down by roughly 9,000 people in June compared to a year ago.
And, compared to a year ago, the number of unemployed who meet that test of looking for work in the past four weeks was down by 800 people, or about 1.5 percent.
The commission's regular monthly survey of Richmond-area businesses, meanwhile, showed their payrolls down by 6,200 [dre: CQ : ]positions last month compared to a year ago June.
The commission survey showed area businesses had 605,200 employees. The breakdown:
•Hotels, restaurants and other leisure-oriented businesses' payrolls were down by 3,800 jobs from last year's level, to 52,400.
•The hard-hit manufacturing sector was down by 2,000 jobs, to 32,000.
•Banks, insurers, real estate and securities firms were down by 800 jobs, to 42,200.
•Construction employment was down by 400 jobs from last year's level to 35,700.
•Education and healthcare, where payrolls have been expanding for months, was up by 2,100 jobs, to 85,700.
•Professional and businesses services gained 300 jobs to 92,500.
Richmond's jobless rate exceeded the state's 7.1 percent rate but was below the nation's 9.6 percent rate. The figures are not seasonally adjusted, which means statisticians have not revised them to reflect what they believe are normal month-by-month variations.
Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or dress@timesdispatch.com.
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