Gov. Midas is at it again: on Friday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, handed the keys to a strong economy by his Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam, took credit for having been handed those keys on Friday.
The latest is that the number of employed Virginians expanded to more than 4.2 million workers in May 2022, which means Virginia has added nearly 80,000 since February, which is, yes, great.
Virginia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3 percent in May. This continues to be below the national rate, which was unchanged at 3.6 percent.
The Commonwealth’s labor force participation rate, measuring the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older that is employed or actively looking for work, rose by 0.3 percent to 63.8 percent in May.
According to BLS household survey data, the number of employed residents rose by 18,134 to 4,218,336. In recent months, employment growth has accelerated. April’s employment growth was the eighth-largest monthly increase, while May’s was the 10th-largest going back to 1976.
The Commonwealth’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3 percent is 1.1 percentage points below the rate from a year ago. The labor force increased by 17,175 to 4,347,177, as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 959 to 128,841.
“I’m encouraged, after one of the worst job recoveries from the pandemic in the nation, nearly 80,000 more Virginians are working today than when I took office,” Youngkin said.
One of the worst job recoveries – as if.
“Virginia is heading in the right direction,” Youngkin said. “We are focused on getting Virginians back to work and expanding opportunity across the Commonwealth. While our labor force participation continues to increase, with fewer people working than before the pandemic there is still plenty of room for growth.”
Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
