Employment on the rise in the Harrisonburg area

Employment continues to rise in the Harrisonburg area. The latest numbers show employment rising from April to May of this year.

The Virginia Employment Commission's report said the area has 200 more people employed in May 2018 than in April 2018.

The city and surrounding area follow the trend of the rest of the state, where the unemployment rate dropped from 3.3 percent to 3.2 percent.

Frank Tamberrino, the president of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, said months of continued growth shows a robust economy, but there can only be so much growth.

"On the flip side, you do have that labor force question," Tamberrino said. "There's full employment at some point in time, and some of our industries around here in particular think we are getting close to that point."

Tamberrino said Harrisonburg is still in a better situation than some other communities are because of the growth of the local population helping the workforce to expand.