Summer Unemployment Flat

By Desiree Parker Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Unemployment in the Historic Triangle remained relatively flat through the summer months, and was also about on par with the same season last year.

Though the spring months this year were down over 2010, this summer’s unemployment numbers were flat in all three localities. James City County saw numbers hovering around 5 percent; York County stayed close to 6 percent and Williamsburg (always higher than its neighbors) stayed within a few tenths of a percent of 14 percent.

In the spring, all three localities saw drops in unemployment in every month, and winter showed modest decreases, offering a glimmer of hope that the local economy might have been turning a corner. In previous stories this year, local officials remained wary about stating whether there might be an upward trend in economic conditions based on better unemployment data.

For comparison, before the recession in July 2006, James City County’s unemployment was at 2.7 percent, York County was at 2.8 percent and Williamsburg was at 6.1 percent.