Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC: Nonfarm employment and labor force data : Mid–Atlantic Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC: Nonfarm employment and labor force data

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Employment data from the Current Employment Statistics program
(not seasonally adjusted data, all employees, in thousands)
Sector	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area
Sector	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual Avg
Total Nonfarm
2025	824.8	826.0	828.9	834.8	837.1	840.2	836.0	834.7	834.8	832.1	836.0	831.4	833.1
2026	822.6	(p)820.3
Mining, Logging, & Construction
2025	42.0	42.4	42.5	42.8	43.1	43.3	43.2	43.2	42.9	42.5	42.1	41.4	42.6
2026	41.3	(p)41.2
Manufacturing
2025	57.5	57.2	57.0	56.9	56.9	57.1	56.5	56.3	56.5	56.1	56.0	55.8	56.7
2026	55.2	(p)54.8
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities
2025	141.1	141.1	141.4	141.1	142.1	142.5	141.8	141.5	141.0	142.9	144.5	145.5	142.2
2026	141.1	(p)140.3
Information
2025	7.8	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.3	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.3	7.4
2026	7.2	(p)7.1
Financial Activities
2025	39.9	39.7	39.8	40.2	40.4	40.6	41.2	40.9	40.4	40.6	40.3	40.1	40.3
2026	39.6	(p)39.7
Professional & Business Services
2025	121.4	121.7	121.5	122.8	122.0	121.7	122.1	121.3	121.0	120.7	121.9	121.4	121.6
2026	121.4	(p)120.4
Educational & Health Services
2025	125.2	125.7	126.3	126.8	125.3	124.9	124.9	125.3	127.1	127.4	128.1	126.7	126.1
2026	128.5	(p)128.1
Leisure & Hospitality
2025	89.1	89.0	91.1	94.1	98.5	100.7	101.7	100.8	95.7	93.8	92.8	92.0	94.9
2026	90.5	(p)89.3
Other Services
2025	35.0	35.0	35.1	35.6	35.8	35.9	35.9	35.8	35.4	35.3	35.2	35.3	35.4
2026	35.0	(p)34.9
Government
2025	165.8	166.7	166.7	167.0	165.5	166.0	161.2	162.3	167.7	165.6	167.9	165.9	165.7
2026	162.8	(p)164.5
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

Labor Force data from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program
(not seasonally adjusted data)
	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual Avg
Labor Force
2025	878,501	872,111	874,697	875,246	870,411	876,608	882,522	871,042	861,367	(1)-	856,690	(p)856,981
2026	872,320	(p)868,103
Employment
2025	848,754	841,787	843,388	844,481	837,767	841,202	847,639	836,161	831,335	(1)-	821,480	(p)826,271
2026	837,124	(p)833,227
Unemployment
2025	29,747	30,324	31,309	30,765	32,644	35,406	34,883	34,881	30,032	(1)-	35,210	(p)30,710
2026	35,196	(p)34,876
Unemployment Rate
2025	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.5	3.8	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.5	(1)-	4.1	(p)3.6
2026	4.0	(p)4.0
Footnotes (1) Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations. (p) Preliminary
The Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Gloucester, Isle of Wright, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York Counties and Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg Cities in Virginia; and Currituck County in North Carolina.