Job numbers don’t tell full story for Prince Edward

If you look at the job numbers alone, Prince Edward’s employment situation isn’t great. According to state data released this week, Prince Edward finished June with a 5.1% unemployment rate. That’s enough to rank 131 out of the 133 counties in Virginia. 

Reports released by the Virginia Employment Commission show Prince Edward with the largest unemployment rate in the region. Charlotte County comes in at 3.7%, with Buckingham also at 3.7% and Lunenburg sitting at 3.3%. Cumberland County’s story, meanwhile, is a bit more positive. Its rate fell to 3.2% from 3.5%, while also adding 21 people to the labor force. The statewide unemployment rate remained steady from May to June at 2.7%.

But as we mentioned, numbers alone don’t tell the full story. It makes sense for Prince Edward’s employment rate to drop in June, as its population declines due to Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College being out of school in summer months. Also as a result of school being out, some jobs on campus are shut down.

“I think it is a function of Farmville/Prince Edward County being a two-college town where 15-20% of our population leaves during the summer months,” Stanley explained. “Unemployment rates in Prince Edward County jump 1.5-2% every summer and drop back down in the fall when students are back.”

As an example, he pointed to the fact Panda Express closes every summer at Longwood.  

“Since our economy is so closely tied to the academic calendar, I have to feel that this is impacting the unemployment numbers,” he added. 

The state records back up Stanley’s claim. Over the last seven years, not counting the pandemic, Prince Edward’s unemployment starts rising in May and continues through August. Then we see the rate each time start to decline again in September. 

More jobs coming 

When asked for details on unemployment in each county, Virginia Workforce Certified Economic Developer Mario L. Camardella pointed to the Virginia Employment Commission’s local Community Profile published for June.

Prince Edward County had 103 new unemployment claimants in June, with 40 of those for accommodation and food services jobs. Health care and social assistance was second highest at 21 for the month, followed by transportation and warehousing in third at six, according to the VEC report. Claims for unemployment in other services came in at five, followed by three each for construction, administrative and support industries, two each in retail trade and finance and insurance, and one claim each in wholesale trade, information and unclassified make up the remaining new unemployment claims.

Of the 103 new claims, 64 were filed in Prince Edward by women, while 39 were male, the VEC report stated. Nearly three-quarters of these new claims came from Black residents at 76, while 21 of them were white, five other and one Asian.

Prince Edward has a total civilian workforce of 10,219 in June 2024, with 9,699 of those employed. In May, the county’s workforce totaled 10,227, with 9,803 of them employed. 

The number of unemployed will soon change, as we’ve reported previously. More than 100 jobs will be available within the next six months as Wawa, Harbor Freight and Five Pillars Meats all go active. All three are in various states of construction, but the goal is to have all of them open for business by the end of the year. 

What about Buckingham job numbers? 

There were 34 new claims for unemployment filed in Buckingham during June, according to the county’s VEC Community Profile report. Jobs in accommodation and food services saw seven job losses, followed by health care and social assistance and other services with five year.

Construction, administrative and support and manufacturing each had three new unemployment claims in Buckingham during June, followed by wholesale trade with two and then one each in the real estate, professional, educational services and unclassified.

Twenty of the new claims in June were filed by women in Buckingham County, while 14 were men, according to VEC. Broken down by race, there were 15 new unemployment filings each by white and Black residents, with four in the other category.

Buckingham has a total civilian workforce of 6,763 in June 2024, with 6,515 of those employed. In May, the county’s workforce totaled 6,720, with 6,499 employed.

Buckingham County Administrator Karl Carter indicated he was working on providing insight into the county’s job numbers but did not respond by deadline.

Looking at Lunenburg

There’s both positives and negatives to take from the latest job numbers in Lunenburg County. According to the data released this week, Lunenburg had 5,157 people employed by the end of June. That’s down from the same period last year, where 5,195 people had jobs in the county. It is a bump from one month prior, however. At the end of May, only 5,139 Lunenburg residents were employed.

One of the positives to take from the report is the fact the civilian workforce keeps growing. There were 5,335 in the workforce by the end of June. In May, the county’s numbers totaled 5,294. 

Lunenburg County Supervisor Mike Hankins said the close of Pennington Seed and Sundies hurt the employment numbers. But he hopes to be able to have better news to talk about pretty soon. 

“The possible good news is that two new businesses may be opening soon, — one in Kenbridge and another in Victoria,” Hankins said. “I can’t give you any detail because this is still a work in progress.”

Note: Herald editor Brian Carlton also contributed to this story.