Arlington’s jobless rate declined some more from November to December, finishing out 2021 at less than half the rate it wrapped up 2020.
With 147,164 counted as employed and 2,689 looking for jobs, the county’s unemployment rate was 1.8 percent in December, according to figures reported by the Virginia Employment Commission.
That’s down two ticks from the rate of 2 percent recorded in November, and well below the 4.7-percent rate of December 2020.
Arlington’s modest month-over-month decline was on par with some of the other major jurisdictions of Northern Virginia, which also posted drops:
• Falls Church saw a decline from 1.8 percent in November to 1.7 percent in December.
• The rate in Fairfax County declined from 2.3 percent to 2.2 percent, and the rate in the city of Alexandria dropped from 2.4 percent to 2.2 percent.
Loudoun County and Prince William County each saw no change in their jobless rates for December, standing at 2.2 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.
For Northern Virginia as a whole, December’s jobless rate of 2.3 percent represented 1.58 million in the workforce and 36,600 looking for jobs. December’s rate was unchanged from November and down from 5.3 percent a year before.
Across Virginia’s 133 cities and counties, the lowest jobless rate was turned in by Madison County at 1.6 percent. There was a three-way tie for second (1.7 percent) between Grayson and Highland counties and the city of Falls Church.
Petersburg recorded the highest jobless rate across Virginia for December, at 9 percent, followed by Emporia at 8.6 percent and Greensville County at 6.7 percent.
Non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rates stood at 2.7 percent statewide in December (unchanged from November) and 3.7 percent nationally (down from 3.9 percent).