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The jobless rate jumped in both Radford and Montgomery County, while Giles and Pulaski County remained steady or dropped for the month of July, according to the latest figures released by the Virginia Employment Commission.
Radford had the highest jump in the jobless rate in the NRV, as they rose from 6.8 percent in June to 8 percent in July. There were 592 people unemployed in the city. Montgomery County also saw its unemployment rate rise to 5.4 percent in July compared to 4.8 percent the previous month. While the number of unemployed rose in both Radford and Montgomery County, Giles County remained steady at 5.9 percent and Pulaski County fell from 8.5 percent in June to 8.4 percent in July. There were 1,561 people without jobs in Pulaski County in July. According to William F. Mezger, Chief Economist for the VEC, Pulaski County’s 8.4 percent and Radford’s 8 percent ranks them sixth and eighth highest in unemployment out of the state’s 134 jurisdictions. In Virginia, the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in July compared to 4.2 percent in June. “This was the highest unemployment rate recorded in Virginia in exactly five years, since a 4.4 percent rate also in July 2003,” Metzger said. Arlington County, with 2.7 percent unemployment, had the lowest rate. Martinsville city, with 12.2 percent unemployment and a lot of summer furloughs, had the highest rate. Martinsville was the only jurisdiction to have a double-digit unemployment rate.
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