Employment Growing in the Roanoke Region

Employment levels continue to grow in the Roanoke Region of Virginia.

Employment in June 2018 is approximately 2,000 jobs higher than June 2017 in the Roanoke metro area, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The regional employment level is at its highest level of any June since June 2008. 

The Roanoke metro area’s unemployment rate stands at 2.9 percent and is the lowest of any May (most recent available) since 2001. Roanoke has seen growth in the last year in professional/business services, education and health, transportation/utilities, and retail trade. 

The regional economy shows another sign of improvement in the growth of homes sold. Homes sold in the second quarter of 2018 outpaces any other same period going back to 2006 with 1,607 homes sold in spite of a sharply contracting home inventory and rising interest rates, according to statistics from the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors.