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	820.3	823.8	827.8	829.3	835.7	(p)830.3
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	41.2	42.3	42.4	42.5	42.2	(p)42.0
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	54.8	54.6	54.3	54.1	54.0	(p)53.9
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	140.3	140.2	141.6	142.5	142.7	(p)142.4
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	7.1	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.1	(p)7.2
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	39.7	39.3	39.3	39.1	39.0	(p)39.0
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	120.4	120.3	121.0	120.8	122.4	(p)122.9
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	128.1	128.7	128.8	127.9	127.7	(p)127.8
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	89.3	91.4	93.5	96.7	100.8	(p)101.7
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	34.9	35.1	35.0	35.0	35.0	(p)34.7
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	164.5	164.8	164.7	163.5	164.8	(p)158.7
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	876,214	873,498	877,452	878,815	877,487	882,126	887,494	876,602	876,009	(1)-	871,041	867,072	(2)876,710
2026	872,320	868,256	869,963	867,418	867,121	868,756	(p)874,057
Employment
2025	845,901	843,391	847,769	851,502	847,483	850,523	855,417	843,846	845,361	(1)-	835,828	835,909	(2)845,721
2026	837,124	833,174	835,888	836,779	835,045	834,020	(p)840,093
Unemployment
2025	30,313	30,107	29,683	27,313	30,004	31,603	32,077	32,756	30,648	(1)-	35,213	31,163	(2)30,989
2026	35,196	35,082	34,075	30,639	32,076	34,736	(p)33,964
Unemployment Rate
2025	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.1	3.4	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.5	(1)-	4.0	3.6	(2)3.5
2026	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.5	3.7	4.0	(p)3.9
Footnotes (1) Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations. (2) Annual estimates for 2025 are 11-month averages that exclude October. Data for October 2025 were not collected due to the federal government shutdown. (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.