North Richmond Today

Compared to the rest of the country, Virginia ranks in the bottom half of jobs recovered from the pandemic. 

In fact, Virginia trails its neighboring states in job recovery: Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Furthermore, there are roughly 200,000 fewer Virginians in the workforce than there were before the pandemic. And Virginia’s labor force participation rate in April and May was the lowest in recorded history.

On his website, GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin touts Virginia Ready Initiative, a nonprofit, public-private partnership dedicated to helping Virginians who are out-of-work get the training they need to secure in-demand jobs. 

"To date, roughly 2,000 Virginians have started the journey with VA Ready, preparing for a new career and new life," the website says. "When crisis strikes, Glenn doesn’t just talk – he acts."

While Terry McAuliffe was governor, states such as New Jersey, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Colorado added 200,000 or more jobs; North Carolina added 350,000 jobs, and competitor states such as Florida, Georgia and South Carolina grew at least 90% faster during that time. In terms of economic growth, since McAuliffe became governor, Virginia’s GDP has grown slower than its competitor states, including Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Texas.