Virginia’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.9% in July to 6.1% in August, putting it among 41 states to see their rates improve, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Friday.

The national unemployment rate fell 1.8 percentage points to 8.4%.

Joe Mengedoth, regional economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said Friday that the August jobs report was positive for Virginia, but total employment remains well below pre-pandemic levels. He said 440,000 jobs were lost in March and April across the Commonwealth. Since then, 188,000 have been added, or 43% of what was lost.

“There’s still quite a ways to go,” he said.

The only industries that didn’t see job growth during the month was manufacturing, which lost 900 jobs and mining which lost 100. The biggest gain was in government, with 40,800 added jobs — the vast majority were in local government and primarily in education. While jobs were added in the leisure and hospitality industry since July, the number was off 20% from a year ago, and every other industry that still hasn’t recovered was down about 2% to 7%, he said.

The only private industry to see more jobs now than a year ago was construction, which has remained “relatively unscathed” by the pandemic, he said. The number of jobs were 2.2% ahead of a year ago.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia had a higher unemployment rate than a year ago. In Virginia, the rate was 2.7% in August 2019. The rate reached 11.2% in April, the highest level during the pandemic.

The highest unemployment rates were in Nevada: 13.2%; Rhode Island: 12.8%; and Hawaii and New York: 12.5%. The lowest rates were in Nebraska: 4%; Utah: 4.1%; and Idaho: 4.2%.

Virginia, as well as New Jersey and New York, all saw jobs grow by 1.8% since July, the highest growth rate among states. Virginia added 68,000 jobs, according to the data. In Hampton Roads, preliminary data showed 7,700 jobs were added in the month, behind Richmond which added 8,700 and Northern Virginia which added 30,100. Compared to a year ago, Hampton Roads was down 41,600 jobs.

The job survey counts anyone who was paid by an employer for all or any part of the pay period that included Aug. 12, even if they were not actually at their jobs. It doesn’t include furloughed workers who aren’t being paid but continue to receive benefits. While the unemployment rate takes into account nontraditional workers like the self-employed and independent contractors, because it relies on a household survey, the jobs report does not because it’s a survey of business establishments.

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