The December unemployment rates were slightly higher than the previous month for the City of Martinsville and Henry and Patrick counties.
While the percentage rate of Henry County remained the same at 5.3 percent, the locality still had a decrease in civilian labor force and an increase in unemployment. The county’s labor force decreased by 44 and the unemployment number increased by 11. Overall, this left 22,751 workers still employed. Compared to the same month in the previous year, Henry County had an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent, 121 fewer in the civilian labor force, and an additional 425 employed.
Martinsville’s unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percent to a total of 8.5 percent in December. The locality experienced a decrease in the civilian labor force of 13 individuals. The unemployment number grew by 19 and the city currently has 5,162 employed residents. In December 2019, the city had an unemployment rate of four percent and had 153 fewer in their civilian labor force.
The unemployment rate in Patrick County also grew by 0.4 percent in the month of December, finishing with a rate of 4.7 percent. The county had a civilian labor force of 7,050. This was a decrease of 15 from the month prior and 110 less than December 2019. The unemployment number increased to 331, an increase of 29 from the previous month. It was also higher than the previous year by 123 people. The current number of employed workers in Patrick County is 6,719, a decrease of 233 from the previous year.
