Hampton Roads' jobless rate remains flat in August

By Tom Shean
The Virginian-Pilot

Helped by continued strength in retailing and commercial construction, Hampton Roads' jobless rate in August remained unchanged from July and declined slightly from one year earlier, the Virginia Employment Commission announced Tuesday.

The region's unemployment rate last month was 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in August 2006, the commission reported.

"At the moment, job growth is a little faster in Hampton Roads than in Northern Virginia and Richmond," said William F. Mezger, chief economist in the commission's economic information services division.

Statewide, the jobless rate was 3.1 percent, unchanged from July and down from 3.2 percent a year earlier, Mezger noted. One reason for the subdued jobless rates statewide was that layoffs a year ago in vehicle production and housing have subsided, he said.

In Hampton Roads, new claims for jobless benefits totaled 3,365 in August, off 13 percent from the number filed in July and down almost 37 percent from one year earlier, according to the state employment commission.

One sector of the Hampton Roads economy that lost jobs in August was leisure and hospitality, where employment fell by 600 jobs, to 94,500. July is usually the peak month for employment in leisure and hospitality, and the total for August was still 2,300 higher than the year-earlier number, Mezger noted.

In contrast to concerns about the slowing pace of the U.S. economy, the output of goods and services in Virginia "is actually holding up pretty well," he said. "If anything, things have picked up in the last couple of months."

Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com