THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020297
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
A flood of high school students into the summer labor force pushed up the unemployment rate in Hampton Roads and the rest of the state during June, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Monday.
Hampton Roads' jobless rate rose to 6.3 percent in June from 5.9 percent the month before and 5.8 percent in June 1993, the commission said. The region had the highest unemployment rate of all metropolitan areas in the state.
The statewide unemployment rate edged up to 5.5 percent in June. That was up three-tenths of a percentage point from May and also slightly higher than the year before.
In spite of the rising jobless rate, the commission said, 20,500 more people were actually working in nonfarm jobs across the state during June than in the month before. Services jobs increased the most - by 12,400. Construction employment rose by 3,200 and manufacturing employment by 1,300.
The commission said increased factory output pushed the average Virginia manufacturing employee's workweek to 42 hours in June, the longest since the mid-1960s.
Northern Virginia had the lowest June jobless rate of the state's major metro areas - 3.8 percent. The Northern Virginia city of Fairfax had the lowest rate of any city or county in the state - 1.5 percent. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
HIGHEST IN VIRGINIA
Hampton Roads had the highest jobless rate of all metro areas in
Virginia.
June 6.3 percent
May 5.9 percent
June 1993 5.8 percent
Virginia's rate was 5.5 percent, up from 5.2
by CNB