December 30, 2009

Greater Charlottesville unemployment dropped slightly in November. The November 2009 seasonally unadjusted rate for Charlottesville was 5.1 percent, compared to 5.3 percent in October of 2009. The unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in November 2008.

Virginia Employment Commission numbers show Albemarle with the lowest rate for our area at 4.6 percent. Greene has a rate of 5.5 percent, Fluvanna shows a rate of 5.6 percent, and Nelson has a 5.7 percent rate.

Virginia’s actual jobless rate was 6.4 percent for both November and the revised October level. The seasonally adjusted rate remained at 6.6 percent for the fourth consecutive month. The number of jobless workers was unchanged, remaining at 263,100 for both October and November.

November normally sees job seekers for holiday employment. This November, the fact that unemployment was unchanged indicated holiday job seekers were being hired, so that the merchants could have them on board by the big “Black Friday” sales day.

Virginia’s actual rate of 6.4 percent in November was 3.0 percentage points below the national actual rate of 9.4 percent. The November
seasonally adjusted rate of 6.6 percent for Virginia was 3.4 percentage points below the national seasonally adjusted rate of
10.0 percent.

The November Virginia actual rate of 6.4 percent was above the November 2008 level of 4.6 percent. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted rate of 6.6 percent gave it the eighth-best ranking among all the states.