Virginia unemployment rate rises in November: 7,500 lost jobs overall

Unemployment ticked up in Virginia in November, to a 2.8 percent rate, with drops in the labor force and the number of those with jobs overall.

The number of Virginians with jobs was down 7,426, and the number of those seeking jobs was down another 519, according to figures from the Virginia Employment Commission.

The unemployment rate in the state is still nearly a point below the national rate of 3.7 percent, for what that’s worth.

The job losses were primarily in professional and business services (-4,300 jobs), manufacturing (-2,200 jobs) and trade, transportation and utilities (-1,500 jobs).