Valley unemployment rates continue to decline with most other Virginia regions

The unemployment rates in 101 of Virginia’s municipalities decreased in November 2023 compared to November 2022.

Unemployment remained unchanged in 14 municipalities and increased in 18.

The lowest unemployment rate in the Commonwealth for a metro area was 2.5 percent in Winchester, while Lynchburg had the highest at 3.4 percent. Petersburg city had the highest unemployment rate at 5.4 percent, while Arlington and Madison counties had the lowest rate at 2.2 percent.

The Commonwealth’s unemployment rate for November 2023 was 2.9 percent, a 0.1 percentage point decrease from November 2022 and 0.6 of a point lower than the national rate.

The Staunton-Waynesboro metro area unemployment rate decreased both from October 2023 and from November 2022 to 2.60 percent. However, Waynesboro’s rate decreased only 10 percentage points to 2.90 from one year ago and remained the same from the previous month.

Augusta County’s rate also decreased by 10 percentage points to 2.50 percent from one year ago and from the previous month.