Cities & States

A Mid-Atlantic state, West Virginia has long been tied to the coal industry. Although some areas of northern West Virginia have seen an uptick in coal mining, the heartland of southern West Virginia has been hurt badly by the natural gas boom in other areas of the country. (Source: West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy)

The latest employment scorecard for the State of West Virginia for August 2016 to August 2017 is listed below, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. West Virginia has some sunshine in its employment scorecard, but continues to struggle overall. The unemployment rate decreased 1.0 percent to 5.0 percent, which is positive. However, the civilian labor force declined by 0.54 percent, and the labor force decreased 0.2 percent to a low 53.0 percent. You can view what jobs are available in West Virginia, as well as which sectors of the economy are growing most quickly, on our Job Listings page.

View more West Virginia demographics, largest cities and counties, news sources, investor relations sites, and a directory to the individual page for each city and county in the State of West Virginia below. More employment information for the State of West Virginia and each of the state’s metropolitan areas in our Employment Database. This database includes 10-years rolling data on the unemployment rate and total labor force for all 50 states, the United States, and every metropolitan area in the country, including comparative analysis relating metropolitan areas to their main state and the nation.

Based on 2013 statistics, the government sector employs the greatest percentage of workers in the state, followed by healthcare and social assistance; retail trade; accommodation and food services; and manufacturing, respectively.