Virginia saw an increase of 8,600 nonfarm jobs in November, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Current Employment Statistics survey. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 3.5 percent, which is 1.1 percentage points below the national average.
Since January 2022, nonfarm payroll employment in Virginia has grown by 264,000 jobs. Governor Glenn Youngkin commented on the figures: “Though delayed, the November jobs report includes an anticipated shift from government-focused employment to the Commonwealth’s robust and growing private sector. A broad-based swath of businesses across the Commonwealth filled more than a quarter of a million jobs since our administration began, not including the current 255,000 open and available jobs and the more than 80,000 permanent and 40,000 construction jobs that are still to come from the record economic development commitments we’ve seen over the past four years.”
Secretary of Commerce and Trade Juan Pablo Segura noted ongoing investments and business growth: “Virginia’s economic momentum is driven by record levels of investment and recent job-creating announcements that will drive growth for years to come. Businesses have chosen Virginia because of our competitive climate, skilled workforce, and long-term economic vision, fueling the Commonwealth’s job growth well beyond the current administration.”
Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater emphasized workforce support: “Virginians continue to benefit from one of the strongest workforce support systems in the nation, which links jobseekers to opportunity, employers to talent, and communities to sustained economic growth, allowing the Commonwealth to outperform the nation in terms of both unemployment and labor force participation.”
According to BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), Virginia’s labor force decreased by 12,851 from September to November 2025. The number of unemployed residents fell by 689 during this period while employed residents declined by 12,162. These comparisons do not include October due to a federal government shutdown that prevented data collection.
The state’s labor force participation rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points between September and November to reach 64.3 percent.
The BLS uses two surveys for these statistics: CES counts payroll positions reported by employers while LAUS relies on household interviews each month for comprehensive labor force data. Notably, October’s household survey data was not collected due to a lapse in federal appropriations; details on release schedules can be found at https://www.bls.gov/bls/2025-lapse-revised-release-dates.htm.
Further information about Virginia’s employment trends is available at https://virginiaworks.com/.
