Virginia Overview

With the state’s location next to Washington, DC, it’s no surprise that the Virginia job market is dominated by government jobs and jobs supporting the government. As a result, Virginia was relatively protected during the recession and is on track for a good economic and job recovery.

Virginia Job Opportunities

The Old Dominion State is home to a variety of local industries, including diversified service, manufactured-goods and expanding high technology companies. In 2011, Forbes.com ranked Virginia as the second-best place for business for the second year in a row due to its educated workforce of 4.3 million and pro-business regulatory climate.

The government sector dominates employment in Virginia. Other critical industries include professional/business services and trade, transportation and utilities. With the exception construction and manufacturing, nearly every sector has demonstrated strong growth.

Virginia Employment Trends

The volume of job opportunities in Virginia is positive and expanding. Throughout the recession, the state maintained a relatively low unemployment rate, which peaked at 7.3 percent in early 2010 and had fallen to 5.7 percent by June 2012. Virginia payrolls have been expanding since early 2010, much earlier than in most other states. Online hiring has recently experienced solid monthly increases as well.

Between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013, Virginia jobs are expected to grow 1.4 percent, slightly more than the 1.3 percent growth expected in the US job supply, Moody’s Analytics forecasts.