Halifax County's jobless rate fell in July to 6.5 percent, down from
June's rate of 6.7. That was not the only good news for the County
since 154 more residents, totaling 15,197,  had jobs in July than in
June when only 15,043 people were employed. However, there were still
1,050 residents seeking work.
Another piece of good news was that the County's civilian labor also
grew from 16,124 members in June to 16,247 in July.
The bad news was simply that the County's unemployment  was down from
last year when in July of 2006 the rate stood at 5.5 percent with
15,364 members having jobs from the 16,265 member labor pool.
Halifax County ranked fourth in the state in unemployment figures with
the City of Martinsville leading with an 8.7 percent rate, followed by
the City of Danville at 7.0 and Henry County at 6.6 percent.
Neighboring Mecklenburg County's jobless rate also fell during July
from 5.2 percent in June to 5.0 in July. However more people had jobs
in Mecklenburg County in July — 12,507 — than in June when only 12,364
residents were employed. However, Mecklenburg's labor force grew in
July to 13,172 from 13,039 in June. In July 665 members of the labor
force were job hunting while in June 675 were seeking work.
Charlotte County also saw a drop in its jobless rate which fell to 5.1
percent in July, down from 5.2 in June when 276 members of its 5,263
member civilian labor were looking for work. In July only 268 members
sought jobs.
Martinsville, which has led the state in high unemployment over the
past months, saw its July rate jump to 8.7 percent, up from its June
rate of 8.4. Danville's jobless rate fell from its 7.2 percent  in June
to 7.0 in July.
Statewide the unemployment rate increased to 3.1 percent down from the
June rate of 3.2, but nationwide the rate jumped in July to 4.9, up
from 4.7 percent in June.