Department of Numbers

Beckley, West Virginia Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Beckley fell 0.0 percentage points in January 2021 to 7.0%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.5 percentage points higher than the West Virginia rate. The unemployment rate in Beckley peaked in April 2020 at 18.4% and is now 11.4 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 7.0% in December 2020, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.0 percentage points. You can also compare Beckley unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate January 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.3% -0.4 +2.8
West Virginia 6.5% -0.2 +1.5
Beckley 7.0% 0.0 +1.8
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with January 2021 data as February metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Beckley, West Virginia, National

Beckley, West Virginia monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Beckley, West Virginia Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Beckley peaked in April 2020 at 8,751. There are now 5,510 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.

Unemployed Persons January 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Beckley 3,241 -29 +765

Number of Unemployed Persons

Beckley, West Virginia Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 West Virginia
Unemployment Rate		 Beckley
Unemployment Rate		 Beckley
Unemployed
March
2021		 6.0% — — —
February
2021		 6.2% 6.2% — —
January
2021		 6.3% 6.5% 7.0% 3,241
December
2020		 6.7% 6.7% 7.0% 3,270
November
2020		 6.7% 7.0% 7.2% 3,346
October
2020		 6.9% 7.4% 7.4% 3,451
September
2020		 7.8% 7.9% 9.9% 4,676
August
2020		 8.4% 8.5% 10.1% 4,779
July
2020		 10.2% 9.4% 11.2% 5,227
June
2020		 11.1% 10.5% 11.2% 5,263
May
2020		 13.3% 11.9% 13.8% 6,503
April
2020		 14.8% 15.6% 18.4% 8,751

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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