W.Va. Unemployment Rate Holds Steady

After a nearly three-month delay, WorkForce West Virginia has released state unemployment figures for January.  

Last fall’s partial government shutdown altered the collection and tracking of unemployment figures for the entire country. The last time the state released unemployment data was in January using December data. 

At the time, the unemployment rate rose from 4.4% in November to 4.6% in December.  

The newly released numbers show that for the month of January, West Virginia’s unemployment rate remained at 4.6%. The national rate for January dropped a tenth to 4.3%.  

The total number of employed state residents dropped by 1,100 declining to 746,400 – while the number of unemployed state residents increased by 100 to 36,300.  

By The Numbers

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 1,300 from December to January as the goods-producing sector added 1,900 jobs and the service-providing sector slid by 600. The goods-producing sector saw a dip in manufacturing as the industry scaled back by 300; construction continued to build, adding 2,100, while mining and logging chiseled out a small gain adding 100 jobs over the month. 

The service-providing sector’s largest loss came in total government, down 300 over the month. Professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality, slipped by 200 jobs apiece while information and other services each dipped by 100 jobs in January. Trade, transportation and utilities saw the largest gain, up 200 jobs over the month. Private education and health services added 1,100 jobs while financial activities remained flat. 

Over the year, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 3,900 jobs. The bulk of job gains came in construction, which added 4,900 since January 2025. Private education and health services (+2,200), professional and business services (+1,200), and financial activities (+200) each saw gains as well.  

Leisure and hospitality was unchanged for the year.  

Losses

The largest single drop in employment over the year came in the government sector. More than 1,900 government workers lost their jobs, almost exclusively in the federal sector with Department of Government Efficiency layoffs.  

Many of those employees were given severance packages or buyouts that are just now running out.  

Declines were also seen in manufacturing (-900), trade, transportation, and utilities (-800), mining and logging (-600), other services (-300), and in information (-100). 

West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted labor force participation rate dipped one-tenth of one percentage point over the month to 54.5% in January.