Department of Numbers

Richmond, Virginia Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Richmond fell 0.1 percentage points in May 2021 to 4.6%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.1 percentage points higher than the Virginia rate. The unemployment rate in Richmond peaked in April 2020 at 11.8% and is now 7.2 percentage points lower. You can also compare Richmond unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate May 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 5.8% -0.3 -7.5
Virginia 4.5% -0.2 -4.0
Richmond 4.6% -0.1 -4.5
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with May 2021 data as June metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Richmond, Virginia, National

Richmond, Virginia monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Richmond, Virginia Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Richmond peaked in April 2020 at 80,937. There are now 50,920 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Richmond employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Richmond, Virginia) is also available.

Unemployed Persons May 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Richmond 30,017 -490 -31,422

Number of Unemployed Persons

Richmond, Virginia Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Virginia
Unemployment Rate		 Richmond
Unemployment Rate		 Richmond
Unemployed
June
2021		 5.9% — — —
May
2021		 5.8% 4.5% 4.6% 30,017
April
2021		 6.1% 4.7% 4.7% 30,507
March
2021		 6.0% 5.1% 5.5% 36,024
February
2021		 6.2% 5.2% 5.6% 36,758
January
2021		 6.3% 5.3% 5.7% 37,649
December
2020		 6.7% 5.6% 6.4% 42,289
November
2020		 6.7% 5.8% 6.1% 40,675
October
2020		 6.9% 6.1% 6.5% 43,388
September
2020		 7.8% 6.6% 7.0% 47,059
August
2020		 8.4% 7.0% 7.6% 52,289
July
2020		 10.2% 7.9% 8.8% 59,882

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. ↩

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