Virginia's jobless rate rose in August to the highest rate in more than 11 years.

And the Virginia Employment Commission predicts unemployment will keep rising "for at least the next several months" because of fallout from the national financial crisis, a sluggish economy and related uncertainty.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in August was 4.6 percent, up from 3.2 percent in August 2007 and the highest state rate since January 1997, when unemployment was 4.7 percent.

From July to August, jobless rates rose in eight of 10 Virginia metropolitan statistical areas, a trend that was true for both the Roanoke MSA and the Blacksburg MSA.

The Roanoke MSA -- which includes the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Botetourt, Craig, Franklin and Roanoke -- saw its unemployment rate rise to 4.5 percent in August from 4.4 percent a month earlier and 3.1 percent in August 2007.

The unemployment rate in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford MSA -- which includes Montgomery, Pulaski and Giles counties -- rose to 6.5 percent in August from 6.4 percent in July and 4.6 percent a year earlier.

The U.S. jobless rate last month was 6.1 percent.

So far, there have been few large layoffs statewide, said Bill Mezger, chief economist for the Virginia Employment Commission.

"You're getting a lot of little layoffs," he said. "You're getting layoffs among people from all industries, from all sectors of the economy."

Mezger said it's too soon to know how Citigroup's agreement in principle to purchase Wachovia's banking operations might affect job numbers in the months ahead.

Wachovia has about 10,500 employees in Virginia, with about 2,126 of those in Roanoke and nearby communities and about 70 in the New River Valley, according to the bank.

Meanwhile, Mezger emphasized that August jobless rates typically reflect both the return to school of college students who had summer jobs and joblessness related to public school employees awaiting the return of classes.

But the sluggish national economy and the ongoing financial crisis seem destined to take a toll, Mezger said.

He said employment usually improves during a year's final months because of the reopening of schools, harvest activities and holiday shopping.

Continued economic uncertainty causes some employers to cut operations and staff, a reaction that increases the numbers of people looking for work. And related apprehension could result in a drop in holiday spending, Mezger said.