Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent in January, it’s lowest rate since March 2009, and down from its peak of 7.2 percent in late 2009 and early 2010.
Gov. Bob “Bob’s for Jobs” McDonnell wasted little time in attributing the decline to his administration’s efforts, while sneaking the word “bipartisan” in there, too.
“The number one priority of our administration is getting the commonwealth’s economy back on track,” he said. “Today’s news that the unemployment rate has fallen to a near-two-year low demonstrates that this bipartisan effort is paying off.”
The statewide news came two days after an upbeat economic report in Fairfax County, where the 4.4 percent unemployment rate is the lowest since January 2009. Unemployment peaked in the county at 5.2 percent in June 2009.
Steven Davis, chairman of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Commission, said that the county continued to add jobs in its primary sectors such as information technology and information services even as the recession caused job losses in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
In Maryland, unemployment was at 7.2 percent in January. In the District, it was nearly 10 percent.
