Wise County, VA jobs, unemployment and layoffs
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Show me jobs near meWise County economy
4.9%
unemployment, Sep 2026
4.1% the month before
13,214
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
35,727
people in Wise County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$50,740
median household income
Source: Census ACS
35%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS
Wise County outlook: Cooling
Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.
- Private-sector jobs down 5.6% from 2022 to 2025
- Population down 3.5% from 2020 to 2025
- Unemployment 4.9%, up 0.8 points from a year ago
- Sectors losing the most jobs: admin & staffing (−355 jobs)
Local job-market news
Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Wise County. Each link goes to the publisher.
- Logistics company laying off 81 employees in Lebanon CountyABC27 · Oct 28, 2026
Learn and get funded in Wise County
- Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
- Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
- Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
- Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.
Wise County layoffs
No layoff notices naming Wise County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.
Employers hiring most in Wise County
Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.
- Commonwealth of Virginia2 open roles
- University of Virginia1 open role
- UVA Health1 open role
Colleges in Wise County
| College | City | Type | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Virginia's College at Wise | Wise | Public 4-year | 1,000–4,999 |
Workforce development and job centers
The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Wise County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.
Laid off in Virginia? How to file for unemployment in Virginia (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).
- Southwest Virginia Workforce Development Board
Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Norton, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Wise
Virginia Career Works-Wise Center
Wise · Affiliate · 276-325-7314
Monday - Friday 8:30am-4:30pm
Cities in Wise County
Other Virginia counties
Laid off or looking for work in Wise County?
See what to do first and the jobs open near you.
See your options after a layoffSources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Virginia’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Virginia unemployment benefits and severance rules.
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