The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted approximately 34,900 jobs in the Virgin Islands in March 2026 through its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. That preliminary total was 1.2 percent higher than in March 2025, compared with a 0.1 percent increase nationally under the same measure.
Average weekly wages in the territory were $1,054 during the first quarter, up 1.5 percent over the year. The national average was $1,654 and grew 3.9 percent, leaving the Virgin Islands average $600 lower and its rate of wage growth less than half the U.S. pace.
QCEW is an employer-based count drawn mainly from unemployment-insurance records and federal-employee coverage. It should not be read as a count of every working person, and its wage figure is an average affected by pay, hours and the mix of industries and jobs.
The result differs from BLS's more timely monthly payroll survey, which estimated that Virgin Islands nonfarm jobs declined through July. The two programs have different coverage and methods, so the quarterly gain is encouraging evidence for one period rather than proof that every labor-market measure has turned upward.
The V.I. Department of Labor should publish a short quarterly reconciliation of QCEW and monthly payroll estimates, with sector-level changes and a clear explanation of revisions, so the public can understand why the measures sometimes point in different directions.
Source published August 28, 2026. Read the original reporting or release for the complete record.
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