Charleston, West Virginia Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Charleston fell 0.1 percentage points in February 2021 to 6.4%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than the West Virginia rate. The unemployment rate in Charleston peaked in April 2020 at 18.2% and is now 11.8 percentage points lower. You can also compare Charleston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.
| Unemployment Rate | February 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 6.2% | -0.1 | +2.7 |
| West Virginia | 6.2% | -0.3 | +1.1 |
| Charleston | 6.4% | -0.1 | +1.6 |
Unemployment Rate: Charleston, West Virginia, National
Note: Recessions shown in gray.
Charleston, West Virginia Unemployed
The number of people unemployed in Charleston peaked in April 2020 at 16,785. There are now 10,767 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.
| Unemployed Persons | February 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | 6,018 | -64 | +1,556 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
Charleston, West Virginia Unemployment History
| Date | National Unemployment Rate |
West Virginia Unemployment Rate |
Charleston Unemployment Rate |
Charleston Unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 |
6.0% | — | — | — |
| February 2021 |
6.2% | 6.2% | 6.4% | 6,018 |
| January 2021 |
6.3% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6,082 |
| December 2020 |
6.7% | 6.7% | 7.2% | 6,545 |
| November 2020 |
6.7% | 7.0% | 7.3% | 6,742 |
| October 2020 |
6.9% | 7.4% | 7.6% | 6,946 |
| September 2020 |
7.8% | 7.9% | 10.3% | 9,506 |
| August 2020 |
8.4% | 8.5% | 10.6% | 9,792 |
| July 2020 |
10.2% | 9.4% | 11.7% | 10,797 |
| June 2020 |
11.1% | 10.5% | 11.8% | 10,864 |
| May 2020 |
13.3% | 11.9% | 14.5% | 13,384 |
| April 2020 |
14.8% | 15.6% | 18.2% | 16,785 |
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. ↩
Department of Numbers
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