Department of Numbers

Roanoke, Virginia Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Roanoke fell 0.2 percentage points in November 2020 to 4.9%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.0 percentage points lower than the Virginia rate. The unemployment rate in Roanoke peaked in April 2020 at 10.9% and is now 6.0 percentage points lower. You can also compare Roanoke unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.7% -0.2 +3.1
Virginia 4.9% -0.3 +2.2
Roanoke 4.9% -0.2 +2.1
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2020 data as December 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 April 2020 at 16,889. There are now 9,412 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Roanoke employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Roanoke, Virginia) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Roanoke 7,477 -206 +3,078

Number of Unemployed Persons

Roanoke, Virginia Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Virginia
Unemployment Rate		 Roanoke
Unemployment Rate		 Roanoke
Unemployed
December
2020		 6.7% — — —
November
2020		 6.7% 4.9% 4.9% 7,477
October
2020		 6.9% 5.2% 5.1% 7,683
September
2020		 7.8% 6.2% 5.9% 9,006
August
2020		 8.4% 6.1% 5.9% 9,152
July
2020		 10.2% 7.9% 7.6% 11,736
June
2020		 11.1% 8.1% 7.9% 11,817
May
2020		 13.3% 9.0% 9.2% 13,984
April
2020		 14.8% 11.2% 10.9% 16,889
March
2020		 4.4% 3.3% 3.5% 5,506
February
2020		 3.5% 2.6% 2.7% 4,372
January
2020		 3.5% 2.7% 2.8% 4,419

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.