Prince William County Unemployment Rate Still Low

Prince William County is able to sustain a low unemployment rate chiefly because of its educated work force, said a spokesman for the Prince William County Department of Economic Development. 

A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the national unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent nationally. The increase came as a surprise to economists because it is the fourth time in a row that the national rate increased a small amount. March was the last month when there was a small gain reported for unemployment, bringing the rate to 8.8 percent.

Although the national jobs report seems to be stuck in neutral, Prince William County’s outlook has remained strong.

Brent Heavner, Prince William County’s DED spokesman, said that while it is difficult to project exactly what June’s local unemployment numbers will be, it is reasonable to expect the county will continue to trend significantly below the national average.

“Compared to the nation, this is a well-educated work force,” Heavner said. The advantage of having nearby federal employment is another benefit for county workers, nearly two-thirds of which commute out of the area for work.

“For the last 24 months, the unemployment rate in Prince William County has, on average, been 3.9 percent below the national unemployment rate,” Heavner said. “Likewise, the statewide unemployment rate has trended at around 2.7 percent below the national unemployment rate for the last two years. Prince William County, in turn, has trended at about 1.2 percent below the statewide unemployment rate.

The national report states that the nonfarm payroll was “essentially unchanged in June” leaving the number of unemployed persons at 14.1 million.

Prince William County has a rate of 5.1 percent unemployment in May 2011, placing it between Fairfax County ­– which had a rate of 4.3 percent unemployment in May – and Fredericksburg, with 8.9 percent unemployment in May for localities off Interstate 95 in Virginia.

Comparatively, the county’s unemployment rate trended down almost a full percentage point from a year ago in May 2010, which was 5.7 percent.

County officials in June credited the “combined strength of the federal government and private sector industries” that provide the region with a “diverse and robust marketplace that generates a number of job opportunities.”  

Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors Corey Stewart released a prepared statement that boasted the county’s highly skilled workforce needed to fill jobs created in the Northern Virginia region. 

“We are committed to providing solutions for the federal government and private sector industries – particularly with regard to BRAC, the life sciences, data centers and government contractors – which continue to bring quality jobs to Prince William County and the rest of the Northern Virginia region,” said Stewart in the release.