Suffolk VA Unemployment Increases 3.0% in One Year

April 9, 2009

SUFFOLK VA NEWS -- The seasonally unadjusted February 2009, unemployment rate is currently 7.0 percent, a 3.0 percent increase since February 2008, and also equal to overall Virginia's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate (7.0%). However, Suffolk's unemployment rate is median compared to other areas in Hampton Roads and it is much lower than other troubled area's of Virginia.

Unemployment Rates by city in Hampton Roads
February 2008 February 2009 Net Change
Chesapeake City, VA 3.7 6.3 2.6
Hampton City, VA 4.5 8.3 3.8
Newport News City, VA 4.4 8.5 4.1
Norfolk City, VA 5.2 8.5 3.3
Portsmouth City, VA 5.4 8.2 2.8
Suffolk City, VA 4.0 7.0 3.0
Virginia Beach City, VA 3.4 6.0 2.6

Other troubled cities in Virginia:

February 2008 February 2009 Net Change
Bedford City, VA 5.8 9.8 4.0
Buena Vista City, VA 4.5 9.7 5.2
Colonial Heights City, VA 4.7 8.2 3.5
Danville City, VA 8.6 13.6 5.0
Emporia City, VA 5.9 12.5 6.6
Fredericksburg City, VA 6.3 10.7 4.4
Martinsville City, VA 12.1 20.2 8.1
Petersburg City, VA 7.1 14.9 7.8
Richmond City, VA 5.4 9.8 4.4
Roanoke City, VA 4.9 8.5 3.6
Staunton City, VA 4.2 7.8 3.6
Williamsburg City, VA 9.2 19.3 10.1
Winchester City, VA 3.9 10.0 6.1

Furthermore, the seasonally unadjusted February 2009 Virginia unemployment rate of 7.0 percent was well below the February 2009 unadjusted U.S. unemployment rate of 8.9 percent. Virginia's lower jobless rate may be attracting unemployed workers here from nearby states as Virginia's civilian labor force grew by 18,000 individuals to 4,136,600 from January to February 2009. In the same period, total employment was down by only 9,000, but unemployment increased by 27,000. The last time unadjusted unemployment in Virginia was 7.0 percent was in February 1992.

On the upside, even though Virginia's employment fell by 9,200 jobs from January to February, with February normally being the lowest employment level of the year, the following economic sectors, public and private education and health care, leisure and hospitality, and miscellaneous services all added workers in February 2009. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Virginia's February 2009, unemployment rate was 6.6 percent, in comparison to last month's 6.0 percent seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.

So to conclude, Suffolk VA, is retaining its labor force in comparison to other cities in Virginia, but obviously Suffolk businesses are generally strained to retain their labor force during this recession.

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