Chris Chmura was quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch article, State's jobless rate rises slightly in July, as economy continues to struggle:

Virginia lost 47,800 jobs last month, underscoring the slow and uncertain economy in the state and across the nation.

Seven of 11 major industry sectors lost jobs, pushing up the state unemployment rate to 6.1 percent in July from 6.0 percent in June, according to a report released Friday by the Virginia Employment Commission.

"Overall, the report depicts an economy that continues to struggle," said Christine Chmura of Chmura Economics & Analytics in Richmond. "This is a slow recovery. Most major sectors contracted in July."

The slight bump in the seasonally adjusted rate is the first increase in Virginia since the peak rate of 7.2 percent in February 2010.

The state rate was better than it was in the same month a year ago, when it was 6.8 percent, and remains lower than the national rate, which fell 0.1 percentage point in July to 9.1 percent.

"The good news is our unemployment rate is 3 percentage points below the nation, but that is not encouraging for people who can't find jobs in our state," Chmura said.

"Even though the rate rose slightly in July, the number of people working contracted for the second month in a row," she said. "We are still seeing an increase in the number of people dropping out of the labor market because they can't find jobs."

Read the full article.