Arlington’s jobless rate in December was down from a month before (although up compared to a year previously) and was tied for lowest in the commonwealth, according to new data.
With 156,875 residents employed in the civilian workforce and 3,159 looking for jobs, the county’s unemployment rate stood at 2 percent to end 2023, according to figures reported Feb. 8 by the Virginia Employment Commission.
That compares to rates of 2.2 percent a month previously and 1.9 percent a year before.
For the month, jobless rates were down generally across Northern Virginia, declining month-over-month from 2.4 percent to 2.2 percent in both Alexandria and Falls Church; from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent in Fairfax County; from 2.6 percent to 2.4 percent in Loudoun County; and from 2.8 percent to 2.6 percent in Prince William County.
In Northern Virginia as a whole, the jobless rate of 2.4 percent was down from 2.5 percent a month before (though up from 2.3% a year before). There were just under 1.69 million in Northern Virginia’s workforce and just over 41,000 looking for jobs in the report.
Among the commonwealth’s 133 cities and counties, Arlington and Madison counties tied for lowest jobless rate in December (2%), followed by Charlottesville (2.1%). Petersburg (5.7%) and Danville (4.4%) had the highest rates.
A total of 78 localities had unemployment rates below 3 percent, while seven had rates higher than 4 percent.
December 2023 figures are preliminary and are subject to change.
