The unemployment rate in Waynesboro jumped the 10 percent mark in February, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Virginia Employment Commission.
The rate was at 10.3 percent, more than double the 4.9 percent rate in the city in February 2008.
There were 629 more people out of work in Waynesboro in February 2009 than there were in February 2008.
Similar trends are ongoing in Staunton and Augusta – with unemployment in Staunton at 7.8 percent this February, up from 4.2 percent in February 2008, and unemployment at 7.4 percent in Augusta County in February 2009, up from 3.5 percent in February 2008.
Staunton and Augusta – along with Waynesboro – experienced dramatic growth in the number of unemployed at the same time that all three saw their labor forces grow significantly as well.
The rate in Waynesboro was the highest in the Central Shenandoah Valley. Buena Vista was close at 9.7 percent. The low was in Harrisonburg, which reported an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in February.
Across the hill, Charlottesville’s unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in February, and Albemarle’s was 4.9 percent.
– Story by Chris Graham
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