Unemployment In Virginia

The Virginia Employment Commission; not just for the unemployed

Starting a new job is always exciting. For Sharon Ezeldin, that excitement wore off after one month; she sits in her office, surfing the Internet for a new job, every day.

"My job is ok," said Sharon, the 28-year-old, college graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University. "It's not that I hate my job, it's just not what I want to keep doing."

Prior to landing her current position at a well-known modeling agency, she had been unemployed for more than six months. Her search ended when she found the marketing assistant position listed in the Washington Post. Sharon scoured the newspapers and popular job-hunting sites online, as well as going to local temporary job placement agencies.

The one resource she did not visit, to save her from weeks of anguish, was the Virginia Employment Commission. Most people rely on the services of the VEC to claim unemployment benefits, if they have lost their job. In the past few years, the VEC has been underestimated as one of the foremost employment resources at hand. Now, the Commission is sought out as the first place to go to when searching for a career.

Nancy Dean, manager of the Alexandria VEC said, "We are the Employment Commission, not the Unemployment Commission."

She explained that the unemployment rate for the Commonwealth of Virginia is at 3.0 percent, whereas the overall rate for the entire United States is at 5.0 percent.

Dean added that the unemployment rate in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax County are between 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent. According to Dean, "that's a very low rate."

Nancy Dean explained that the reason for such outstanding numbers in the Northern Virginia location is because "this is one of the most highly educated parts of the