Patrick County’s unemployment rate showed a slight uptick in early 2017, according to data released last week by the Virginia Employment Commission.
In January, and the most recent data available from the commission, the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, with 378 jobless. Of the county’s 7,996 labor force, data showed 7,618 were employed.
The labor force is the number of people employed plus those who are seeking jobs.
The county’s unemployment rate in December stood at 4.5 percent, with 368 looking for work. According to data from the commission, 7,792 people had jobs, and there were 8,160 in the work force.
The unemployment rates in adjacent localities Martinsville and Henry County also increased in the December to January time frame, according to the VEC.
Henry County’s unemployment rate in December was 5.3 percent, which represented 1,172 jobless out of the 22,082 labor force. Data also showed that 20,910 people were working in December.
In January, 20,845 of Henry County’s 22,116 labor force were employed, with 1,271 jobless and an unemployment rate of 5.7, according to the VEC.
Martinsville’s unemployment rate also increased from 6.6 percent in December to 7.7 percent in January. Data showed that 4,827 people of the city’s 5,167 workforce were working in December while 340 were jobless. In January, 4,768 of the work force of 5,168 had jobs, and 400 were unemployed, VEC data showed.
