TradeAtlas · Trade Market Report

Virginia

Data through June 2026Published August 2026Digest g0.1 · Provisional

Compiled from BLS, Census, Indeed Hiring Lab. Government statistics publish on a lag, so the latest month shown trails the calendar; every figure carries its own “data through” date.

This is the most recent edition. Newer government data for this state has not been published yet.

This month

Hiring and the pipeline are moving in opposite directions: employment fell 2.0% while permits rose 34.2%. Employment is still contracting even as new permitted work builds up behind it. BLS · Census Residential building permits rose 34.2% year over year, to 3,303 units authorized in June 2026. Census Solar is the tightest trade in Virginia this month, with a Trade Demand Index of 69.8. TDI

01 · Indicators

Construction employment
226,600
−2.0% YoY
BLS · Jun 2026
Building permits
3,303
+34.2% YoY
Census · Jun 2026
Unemployment
3.7%
+15.6% YoY
BLS · Jun 2026
Job postings index
97.8
−2.7% YoY
Indeed Hiring Lab · Jun 2026

02 · Tightest trades in Virginia

Explore every trade and state →
#TradeIndexVs. 50 states
1Solar69.8Critical
2General Contracting69.7Tightening
3Electrical66.9Balanced
4Flooring60.6Tightening
5HVAC59.1Balanced
6Plumbing56.5Balanced
7Fire Protection54.1Tightening
8Windows & Doors53.7Surplus
9Garage Doors49.7Balanced
10Appliance Repair48.5Balanced
11Pool & Spa46.5Balanced
12Concrete & Masonry44.7Balanced
13Painting41.3Balanced
14Landscaping38.5Balanced
15Insulation37.5Balanced
16Pest Control36.4Balanced
17Roofing36.4Balanced
18Locksmith36.3Tightening
19Cleaning & Restoration33.1Balanced
20Fencing32.7Balanced

Index 0–100, methodology v0.2 · Band is this state’s percentile among the 50 states for that trade · Wages adjusted by BEA regional price parity

03 · Desks

Jobs

Open roles and hiring momentum in this market.

Virginia in the Trade Demand Index →
Projects

Federal construction awards and permit activity.

Coming in a later edition
Policy

Licensing, wage and safety rules changing in this state.

Contractor licensing by state →
Companies

Contractors active in this market.

Company directory →
Sources in this edition
  • BLS · Construction employment, seasonally adjusted (BLS CES, via FRED) · through 2026-06
  • Census · Private housing units authorized by permit (Census BPS, via FRED) · through 2026-06
  • BLS · Unemployment rate (BLS LAUS, via FRED) · through 2026-06
  • Indeed Hiring Lab · Job-postings index, all sectors (Indeed Hiring Lab, CC BY 4.0) · through 2026-06
  • TradeAtlas · Trade Demand Index, methodology v0.2 — how it is built
Colophon

This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This product uses Census Bureau data but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. Employment and unemployment data are published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job-postings data © Indeed Hiring Lab, CC BY 4.0. Every sentence above is a fixed template filled from those series; the numbers behind each one are published with it. The report is TradeAtlas’s own derivative product; no source named here endorses it.

Edition 2026-06 · digest g0.1 · computed 2026-08-25