While Fairfax County saw a year-over-year total-jobs increase in new federal figures, the rate of increase was below the national jump and below other major counties in Northern Virginia.
With 637,900 people counted as part of the workforce within the county (no matter where they live) in June, the annualized growth rate of 1.9 percent in Fairfax was below the national rate of 2.4 percent for the same period, according to figures reported Nov. 21 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The government agency on a quarterly basis looks at employment totals in the nation’s 360 most populous counties (which, in Virginia, also includes cities). For the second quarter of 2023, employment was up in 337 of them, with a national total of 154.3 million.
Midland, Texas, had the largest year-over-year increase, at 7 percent.
All 12 Virginia localities included in the quarterly survey saw increases in employment year-over-year. In addition to Fairfax, employment in counties totaled 191,300 in Loudoun (+4.1%), 180,300 in Arlington (+3.3%), 189,400 in Henrico (+2.3%), 143,500 in Chesterfield (+4%) and 142,100 in Prince William (+3.9%).
Among cities, employment totaled 180,200 in Virginia Beach (+0.5%), 161,300 in Richmond (+3.6%), 140,300 in Norfolk (+2.2%), 104,300 in Chesapeake (+1.7%), 101,100 in Newport News (+0.8%) and 82,100 in Alexandria (+1.3%).
For Virginia as a whole, total employment of just over 4.08 million was up 2.8 percent from a year before.
