Public Data Commons

1990 to present [approximate 2 month lag] Virginia Labor Force and Unemployment estimates by Month by County. Special data considerations: Period values of "M01-M12" represent Months of Year; "M13" is the Annual Average. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Local Area Unemployment Statistics, table la.data.54.Virginia Data accessed from the Bureau of Labor Statistics public database LABSTAT [https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/] Supporting documentation can be found on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website under Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Handbook of Methods [https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/lau/home.htm] Survey Description: Labor force and unemployment estimates for States and local areas are developed by State workforce agencies to measure local labor market conditions under a Federal-State cooperative program. The Department of Labor develops the concepts, definitions, and technical procedures which are used by State agencies for preparation of labor force and unemployment estimates. These estimates are derived from a variety of sources, including the Current Population Survey, the Current Employment Statistics survey, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, various programs at the Census Bureau, and unemployment insurance claims data from the State workforce agencies. To establish uniform labor force concepts and definitions in all States and areas consistent with those used for the U.S. as a whole, monthly national estimates of employment and unemployment from the Current Population Survey are used as controls [benchmarks] for the State labor force statistics. Summary Data Available: Monthly labor force and unemployment series are available for approximately 7,500 geographic areas, including cities over 25,000 population, counties, metropolitan areas, States, and other areas. For each area, the following measures are presented by place of residence: * Total civilian labor force, * Total number of people employed, * Total number of people unemployed, and * Unemployment rate Data Characteristics: Rates are expressed as percents with one decimal place. Levels are measured as individual persons [not thousands] and are stored with no decimal places.