RICHMOND, VA — Governor Glenn Youngkin announced today that Virginia added 8,600 nonfarm jobs in November, according to preliminary estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics survey. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 3.5 percent, 1.1 percentage points below the national rate. Since January 2022, nonfarm payroll employment in the Commonwealth has increased by 264,000 jobs.
“Though delayed, the November jobs report includes an anticipated shift from government-focused employment to the Commonwealth’s robust and growing private sector,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “A broad-based swath of businesses across the Commonwealth filled more than a quarter of a million jobs since our administration began, not including the current 255,000 open and available jobs and the more than 80,000 permanent and 40,000 construction jobs that are still to come from the record economic development commitments we’ve seen over the past four years.”
“Virginia’s economic momentum is driven by record levels of investment and recent job-creating announcements that will drive growth for years to come. Businesses have chosen Virginia because of our competitive climate, skilled workforce, and long-term economic vision, fueling the Commonwealth’s job growth well beyond the current administration,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Juan Pablo Segura.
“Virginians continue to benefit from one of the strongest workforce support systems in the nation, which links jobseekers to opportunity, employers to talent, and communities to sustained economic growth, allowing the Commonwealth to outperform the nation in terms of both unemployment and labor force participation,” said Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater.
According to BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (“LAUS”, or “the household survey”) preliminary release, the labor force decreased by 12,851 from September to 4,527,441 as the number of unemployed residents decreased by 689 over that period to 159,510 and the number of employed residents decreased by 12,162 to 4,367,931. Over-the-month comparisons are not available because the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not collect household survey data in October 2025 due to the federal government shutdown.
The Commonwealth’s labor force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points from September to 64.3 percent in November. The labor force participation rate measures the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older that is employed or actively looking for work.
The CES survey uses payroll records of establishment employers and is designed to provide a count of jobs under which the employer pays unemployment insurance. The LAUS survey is based on household interviews conducted each month for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force, including those who are employed and unemployed. Establishment survey data reflects changes for updated seasonal adjustment factors, and industry classification conversions (NAICS), as part of the annual benchmarking process.
The household survey only distinguishes whether a person is employed or unemployed, whereas CES counts each employee that is on an employer’s payroll. CES excludes business owners, self-employed persons, unpaid volunteers and private household workers, and those on unpaid leave or not working because of a labor dispute.
Note the November Employment Situation release. BLS did not publish October 2025 State Employment and Unemployment information, while establishment survey data from the Current Employment Statistics State and Area program for October 2025 was published with the November 2025 data. Household survey data from the Current Population Survey, which serve as the primary input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics models, were not collected for the October 2025 reference period due to a lapse in appropriations and will not be collected retroactively. For both surveys, the collection period for November 2025 data was extended, and extra processing time was needed. More information on the BLS release schedule can be referenced at https://www.bls.gov/bls/2025-lapse-revised-release-dates.htm.