Preliminary U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates place total nonfarm payroll employment in the Virgin Islands at 31,800 jobs in July 2026, a 6.5 percent decline from July 2025. The estimate measures jobs reported by employers rather than the number of individual people working and may be revised as additional information becomes available.
Leisure and hospitality showed the steepest year-over-year contraction among the listed sectors, falling 20.9 percent to 5,300 jobs. Education and health services declined 4.8 percent to 2,000 jobs, while government employment fell 2.8 percent to 10,300.
Several sectors were unchanged from a year earlier, including trade, transportation and utilities at 6,900 jobs; professional and business services at 2,400; financial activities at 1,600; and manufacturing at 500. The contrast indicates that the territory's employment decline is uneven and especially concentrated in tourism-facing work.
The V.I. Department of Labor and Department of Tourism should publish a shared monthly dashboard that compares payroll jobs, visitor arrivals, hotel occupancy and cruise activity using consistent dates. Pairing those measures with a short explanation of revisions and sector-specific responses would help residents and businesses understand where tourism gains are—or are not—reaching workers.
Source published Data extracted August 28, 2026. Read the original reporting or release for the complete record.
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