RICHMOND, Va. — New jobless numbers are on the decline in Virginia as Governor Glenn Youngkin says the state’s year-over-year employment growth was the largest in nearly 45 years.

In a release, Youngkin cited a Local Area Unemployment Statistics survey for the month of July, which found that Virginia’s workforce grew by nearly 9-thousand jobs last month.

Over four-and-a-half million Virginians are now employed in the state, which the governor says is the highest number on record.

The commonwealth’s seasonally-adjusted employment rate sits at 2-and-a-half percent – a full point below the national rate.

According to personal finance website WalletHub, over seven percent of unemployed Virginians found jobs between June and July.