Richmond wages rise even as the region sheds jobs
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, the Labor Department said on Friday.
Why it matters: The better-than-expected report is fresh evidence of the labor market's resilience, easing fears that a hiring slowdown had taken hold.
By the numbers: Nationwide, job gains were more than triple the 53,000 jobs that economists anticipated.
- Revisions released Friday showed employers added 55,000 more jobs in June and July combined than previously estimated.
- With those revisions, the job declines initially estimated last month flipped to a gain.
Yes, but: Richmond's market is sending mixed signals. Jobs have fallen but wages are rising.
- The Richmond area lost about 10,400 jobs over the 12 months through July — and Virginia lost nearly 67,000, the Times-Dispatch reports from the latest BLS data.
- The metro's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.8% in July.
- Meanwhile, base pay in metro Richmond rose 3.3% year over year in August, the 17th highest wage growth among U.S. metros tracked by ADP, the nation's largest payroll processor.
The intrigue: Worker shortages in some industries — like construction and health care — are helping push up pay growth nationally, ADP told Axios last month.
- Construction workers had the strongest year-over-year base-pay growth among the sectors ADP highlighted in August, at 4%, followed by financial activities and manufacturing at 3.5%.
Zoom in: Richmond also scored 107.1 on Indeed's new labor market index, above the national median of 100.
- That suggests the local market still has slightly more openings than available workers.
The bottom line: Some Richmond workers are still getting raises. The harder part may be finding the next job.