Area's job losses worst in state again

The Charlottesville region has lost an estimated 1,000 jobs, according to a new Virginia Employment Commission report.

The monthly job growth report shows that October was the second straight month in which the Charlottesville area was ranked the worst out of all Virginia’s nine metropolitan areas.

The Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area — which includes Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna and Nelson — was one of two areas in Virginia that saw negative job growth in October compared to the same month one year ago.

The Charlottesville region’s total labor force fell by 1 percent, or 1,000 jobs, to 103,000, according to the report.

The Winchester metropolitan area was the only other region in the state to lose a net number of jobs. Winchester fell by 0.5 percent, which was the equivalent of 300 jobs.

“I still think Charlottesville is going to catch up with itself here, but it’s seen negative job growth for a couple months now, so maybe not,” said Bill Mezger, chief economist with the state employment commission.

Five of the state’s nine metropolitan areas enjoyed a net increase of jobs. These areas were Harrisonburg (up 1.9 percent), Hampton Roads (up 1.8 percent), Lynchburg (up 1.8 percent), Northern Virginia (up 0.8 percent) and Roanoke (up 0.5 percent). Richmond and Blacksburg, meanwhile, essentially stayed flat.

In September, Charlottesville was the only metropolitan area in Virginia to shed jobs during the preceding year. According to last month’s report, the Charlottesville area lost 500 jobs between September 2007 and September 2008.

The Charlottesville area’s heaviest job losses were in the mining, construction and manufacturing industries. Some 600 people lost their jobs in those industries, brought about largely by the ongoing slowdown in the real estate market.

The service-providing industry, meanwhile, was down by 1.4 percent, or 400 jobs, from October 2007.

At the same time, the professional and business services sector added 500 jobs, while the leisure and hospitality industry brought on an additional 300 workers.

Despite the job losses, the Charlottesville area’s unemployment rate remains relatively low at 3.4 percent. Out of the nation’s 369 metropolitan areas, Charlottesville has the 17th best jobless rate. However, the unemployment rate is significantly higher than it was a year earlier, when the rate was 2.3 percent.

The reason that the unemployment rate is still low, Mezger said, may be because some of the job losses — most notably in the construction industry — are affecting people who worked in the Charlottesville area, but live elsewhere.

For example, he said, a Charlottesville construction worker might live in Culpeper. If that worker loses his job, the job loss is reported in Charlottesville but the unemployment rate would affect Culpeper.

Mezger said he was somewhat surprised by Charlottesville’s lackluster labor market. He said he had anticipated that it would bounce back, much like Lynchburg did recently after a couple sluggish months.

“I kind of thought that Charlottesville would perk up in the fourth quarter, which it didn’t seem to do,” he said.