The Virginia Employment Commission announced yesterday the December 2008 employment figures.  Between November 2008 and December 2008, non-farm employment decreased by 25,900 jobs.  This decline brought the State unemployment rate to 5.2%, up from 4.6% in November 2008 and 3.2% in December 2007.  To paraphrase the words of William F. Mezger, Chief Economist for the VEC, the recession has caught up with Virginia.  There were, however, some bright spots in the release.

First, Virginia’s unemployment rate remains well below the December 2008 National unemployment rate of 7.2% – approximately 25% lower.  Second, many of the State’s MSAs are doing pretty well.  Danville, while having one of the highest unemployment rates in the State, did manage to add jobs and bring its unemployment rate down 20 basis points from November to 11.5%.  Several MSAs have unemployment rates less than 5%, including Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.  Northern Virginia, the state’s largest MSA, has the best unemployment rate at 3.9%, up from 3.5% in November 2008.

Finally, several sectors added jobs from November to December of 2008.  The trade and transportation sector added 3,600 workers.  Finance added 300 jobs and information added 100 jobs.  While these are not staggering numbers, or even as large as in previous years, they do represent an addition of jobs.  In an economy where “flat” is the new “good”, “up” is the new “great”.

In its most recent report, the Virginia Employment Commission announced that Virginia Non-farm Employment had reached the second highest level EVER recorded.  The figure of 3,798,200 employed Virginia’s represented a year-over-year increase of 20,600 jobs, or 0.5%.  Those aren’t mind blowing numbers, but keep in mind that the national economy suffered a 0.8% job LOSS in the same 12 month period.

Other interesting statistics from the report:

• Virginia’s unemployment rate of 4.4% was the eight best in the nation.  Only 7 small, mid-western and rocky mountain states did better.
• Virginia continued to have the lowest unemployment rate among the 13 largest states with non-farm employment bases over 3.5 million.
• 3 out of the 4 best major metropolitan areas with populations over 1 million were in Virginia.
• The Washington/DC MSA was the lowest at 4.1%
• The Virginia Beach MSA was the third lowest at 4.3% (Oklahoma City slid in at number 2)
• The Richmond MSA was the fourth lowest at 4.4%

Virginia continues to be the #1 state to do business, even in a very difficult economy.