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”.

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.