New data showing a continued increase in Virginia’s unemployment claims is providing ammunition to Arlington’s Democratic leaders at both the state and national level.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) pounced on figures that the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday, which showed that Virginia was the only state to record a statistically significant increase in its jobless rate from May to June.
About 160,000 Virginians were looking for jobs in June, resulting in a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.5% — up from 3.4% a month before.
“It is a certainty that this increase is being driven by the Trump administration’s policies,” Beyer said in a statement.
He predicted more to come:
“Trump’s mass firings and cuts are draining Virginia’s economy, while also hurting the services Virginians depend on, and many of those cuts are not even showing up in the data yet. I fear it will only get worse as the number of workers purged rises and the economic damage spreads further to other sectors of our economy.”
The issue is likely to play out as Republican Winsome Earle-Sears attempts to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). Democrats are working to elect Rep. Abigail Spanberger to regain the governorship the party lost in 2021.
The Youngkin administration acknowledged the higher unemployment rate, but said it needed to be put in a broader context.
“Over the next few months, we do expect to see the push and pull on the jobs market as some areas of the federal government reduce employment and others grow, like the defense sector and the broader private sector,” the governor said in a statement accompanying the June unemployment numbers.
Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Juan Pablo Segura amplified the governor’s push to look beyond month-to-month variations.
“Short-term shifts in employment data don’t change our long-term mission,” Segura said. “We’re building a stronger, more resilient economy for all.”
Youngkin pointed to an estimated 200,000 job openings across the commonwealth, and an expected 80,000 new jobs through business investment, that “will provide opportunities for those who have experienced job dislocation.”
Matthew Hurtt, who chairs the Arlington County Republican Committee, echoed those comments.
“There is no one-size-fits-all federal government solution to the changing employment dynamic in Northern Virginia,” he told ARLnow.
Hurtt said the county’s Democrat elected officials should press for innovative solutions.
“Arlington’s political leaders refuse to envision an economic reality where the federal government plays a reduced role in our community,” he said.
The Arlington County Democratic Committee, meanwhile, is using its organizational muscle to provide resources in competitive House of Delegates races downstate and for the party’s statewide ticket.
“In Virginia this November, everything is on the line,” county Democrats said in a social media post announcing upcoming fundraising events.
Beyer accused the state’s Republicans of dropping the ball in failing to push back on the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce.
“Youngkin and Sears are presiding over a worrying increase in Virginia unemployment, but rather than stand up and fight for Virginians, they are cheering it on for purely political reasons,” he said.
Preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Illinois and Maine had decreases in monthly unemployment rates in June. The other 47 states had no statistically significant changes to unemployment month-over-month, although in some cases unemployment rates did tick up or down slightly owing to rounding.
The July 18 data drop from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was for state-level employment conditions. Virginia officials are expected to release June’s local jurisdiction figures in early August.
In locality data for May, a total of 5,061 Arlington residents were recorded as unemployed. That was the highest total since July 2021.
