Bryan David
State report shows encouraging signs for Lynchburg region
June 16, 2010
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Fifth District June report, released this week, showed some early encouraging signs for Region 2000. While the state’s employment growth came in at minus .05 percent for the most recently tracked month of April, the Lynchburg region showed a positive growth of 0.7 percent. The only other region in the Fifth District to show a positive number was Northern Virginia. (See chart.)
Statewide, the unemployment rate went from 6.9 percent in January to 7.2 percent in April, while the state labor force decreased over that same period. In contrast, Lynchburg's unemployment rate decreased from 8.7 percent in January to 7.5 percent in April, while the labor force expanded.
According to R. Bryan David, Economic Development Director with Virginia’s Region 2000 Partnership, “This shows me that our region’s businesses are seeing some relief and some have even begun to hire again. We all know that one month doesn’t make a trend, but it’s a good sign that things here are moving in the right direction,” he said.
To view the full Federal Reserve report, please click here.
