Department of Numbers

Roanoke, Virginia Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Roanoke fell 0.1 percentage points in April 2013 to 5.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the Virginia rate. The unemployment rate in Roanoke peaked in December 2009 at 8.1% and is now 2.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare Roanoke unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate April 2013 Month/Month Year/Year
National 7.5% -0.1 -0.6
Virginia 5.2% -0.1 -0.7
Roanoke 5.5% -0.1 -0.7
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with April 2013 data as May metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Roanoke, Virginia, National

Roanoke, Virginia monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Roanoke, Virginia Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Roanoke peaked in January 2010 at 12,613. There are now 3,913 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Roanoke employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Roanoke, Virginia) is also available.

Unemployed Persons April 2013 Month/Month Year/Year
Roanoke 8,700 -110 -1,027

Number of Unemployed Persons

Roanoke, Virginia Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate 		Virginia
Unemployment Rate 		Roanoke
Unemployment Rate 		Roanoke
Unemployed
May
2013 		7.6% — — —
April
2013 		7.5% 5.2% 5.5% 8,700
March
2013 		7.6% 5.3% 5.6% 8,810
February
2013 		7.7% 5.6% 5.8% 9,204
January
2013 		7.9% 5.6% 5.9% 9,382
December
2012 		7.8% 5.6% 5.8% 9,252
November
2012 		7.8% 5.7% 5.9% 9,311
October
2012 		7.9% 5.8% 5.9% 9,381
September
2012 		7.8% 5.9% 6.0% 9,474
August
2012 		8.1% 5.9% 6.0% 9,575
July
2012 		8.2% 6.0% 6.1% 9,660
June
2012 		8.2% 6.0% 6.1% 9,708
May
2012 		8.2% 5.9% 6.2% 9,724

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

Data on deptofnumbers.com is for informational purposes only. No warranty or guarantee of accuracy is offered or implied. Contact ben@deptofnumbers.com (or @deptofnumbers on Twitter) if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. Privacy policy.