The Augusta County-Staunton-Waynesboro region continues to recover from the economic pandemic, with unemployment in the region dropping more than a point and a half in May.
The regional unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent in May, according to figures from the Virginia Employment Commission, down from the 9.4 percent rate in April, at the depths of Gov. Ralph Northam’s shutdown.
For comparison to 2019: the unemployment rate a year ago was at 2.5 percent.
That figure was based on 1,520 people being unemployed in the region.
The number unemployed in May 2020 was at 4,809.
The unemployment rate in the two cities: Waynesboro was at 9.4 percent in May, and Staunton at 9.6 percent, down from the 11.1 percent rate in both in April.
Augusta County reported a 6.7 percent unemployment rate in May, down from 8.3 percent in April.
Story by Chris Graham