8 News Richmond: Virginia was the only state to see unemployment rise in June

VIRGINIA – New reporting from 8 News Richmond and the Richmond Times-Dispatch details that Virginia was the only state to see unemployment rise in June, and the Commonwealth’s unemployment rate reached the highest it has in four years. June marks the sixth consecutive month that unemployment has risen in Virginia. 
 
Experts suggest the growing unemployment could be a result of the Trump Administration’s attacks on Virginia jobs that Winsome Earle-Sears has repeatedly backed, saying she would help Trump “get the job done” and that she’s “supporting what the President is doing.” 
 
Sears was also caught on tape downplaying and dismissing these attacks on Virginia jobs: “the media is making it out to be a huge, huge thing… and I don’t understand why.” 
 
New audio from a closed-door event revealed Sears complaining about the attacks on Virginia jobs hurting her campaign — ignoring the harm they’ve caused families and the economy. 
 
What Virginians are reading about growing unemployment:  
 
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia's unemployment rate rises for sixth straight month

• Virginia’s unemployment rate rose in June for the six consecutive month, as the state continues to feel the effects of cuts in federal employment and government contracts under President Donald Trump.
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that Virginia was the only state in the country in which unemployment rose by a “statistically significant” amount from May to June [...].
• The latest unemployment rate increase drew the attention of elected Democrats who have escalated their criticism of the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce and contracts they say are critical to the state’s economy, as well as the Republican governor’s support of those policies.

 
8 News Richmond: Virginia was the only state to see unemployment rise in June

• With Virginia’s unemployment rate being the highest it’s been in four years, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that it’s the only state to see an unemployment rate rise in June.
• According to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday, July 18, the unemployment rate in Virginia rose again in June, to 3.5%, saying, “Virginia had the only rate increase,” while Illinois decreased by 0.2% and Maine by 0.1%.
• 8News previously reported that Virginia’s unemployment rate has increased steadily to 3.4% in May since January, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• The decisions at the federal level, which include the thousands of fired federal workers and contractors in Virginia, could lead to a notable increase later in the year.

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