The Virginian-Pilot
©
Jobs in the region in the second quarter of 2009 slipped by 2.1 percent from the peak in 2007. That compared with an average decline of 3.8 percent in the 100 largest metro areas.
Hampton Roads' unemployment rate of 7.4 percent during the quarter remained well below the 9.7 percent average for the 100 areas, according to the Brookings Institution report. The output of Hampton Roads' goods and services has slipped only 0.8 percent from the peak during last year's third quarter. The average decline was 3.7 percent for the 100 areas.
Housing prices were down 2.1 percent from one year ago, according to the Brookings report. That put the region on the bottom half for the 100 metro areas, where the average decline was 4.4 percent. A rising number of foreclosures also put a damper on regional economic recovery. Hampton Roads saw 2.43 real estate owned properties per 1,000 mortgageable properties, while the average among metropolitan areas was 4.20. who's worse off?
The downturn in autos hit Detroit and Toledo, Youngstown and Dayton, Ohio. Housing woes hurt Miami, Tampa and a half-dozen other Florida metro areas. Las Vegas; Portland, Ore.; and Providence, R.I., also fared poorly.
Get a link to the full report at PilotOnline.com. The recession has spared almost no region of the country, but lower-than-average job losses have helped Hampton Roads fare better than most of the nation's major metropolitan areas, a nonpartisan research center said in a report being released today. // In a study of the 100 largest metro areas, the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News region ranked among the 20 strongest, the Brookings Institution in Washington said.
Its study considered changes in employment, jobless rates, regional output of goods and services, housing prices and foreclosed real estate in each metro area.
A handful of the nation's 20 strongest regions, including Hampton Roads, San Antonio and Washington, benefited from having a significant concentration of defense or government activity, noted Alan Berube, research director for Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program and co-author of the study. "I'd rate that as among the most important factors" for the strength of Hampton Roads' economy, he said.
The number of jobs in the region during the April-through-June quarter had fallen only 2.1 percent from the peak two years ago, the study said. That compared with an average decline of 3.8 percent for employment in the 100 largest metro areas.
In addition, Hampton Roads' unemployment rate of 7.4 percent during the quarter remained well below the 9.7 percent average for the 100 areas, Brookings said.
Meanwhile, the output of Hampton Roads' goods and services has slipped only 0.8 percent from the peak during last year's third quarter, while the average decline was 3.7 percent, the Brookings study said.
However, the recovery of Hampton Roads' economy has been restrained by a decline in housing prices and a rising number of foreclosures, Berube said.
Greg Grootendorst, deputy executive director for economics at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, said the findings in the Brookings study were logical, but he expressed wariness about drawing conclusions about the region's future performance.
"We are doing OK, but we are not out of the woods by any stretch," Grootendorst said. "I would be cautious about saying that we are at the forefront of the recovery."
That's partly because of continued uncertainties in the housing market, including the impact that the repricing of interest-only home loans might have on borrowers in the region, he said.
Still, the Hampton Roads economy continues to benefit from the heavy flow of defense spending and having a diverse job base in such sectors as leisure and hospitality and port activity, Grootendorst said.
At a time when the pace of job losses nationwide is slowing, there are stark disparities in the economic performance of different metro areas, something that Brookings sought to highlight, Berube said. The quarterly MetroMonitor report being released today is the second one it has issued so far this year.
"While several metro areas may have reached a turning point, there are many others that still haven't touched bottom, as well as a few that have almost fully recovered," Berube said.
The 20 metro areas with the weakest economic performance, according to the study, include several battered by the downturn in auto manufacturing: Detroit and Toledo, Youngstown and Dayton, Ohio. The 20 weakest also include Miami, Tampa and a half-dozen other Florida metro areas that were hit hard by the collapse in housing activity.
Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com
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Just Dreadful
Is that why one of the Temp Agency representatives confessed that this was the worst job market she had ever seen in this area?? Lets get more in depth, and stay away from the ODU economics and realtors offices. Take a trip down to temp agencies and unemployment offices and listen and write about what the people of this area are thinking about your 'less worse' than other areas article.
Virginia layoffs database
It seems they are only reporting lay offs over a certain size. Our office of 27 employees closed in March (1 retired, 1 kept her job in VB, 6 moved to Dallas with the company so there were actually technically 19 lay-offs). Virginia Workforce development worked with us directly on the transition and on the process of retraining, filing for benefits, etc., so there is no reason other than size that we would not be in the database.
Spending our money here or there
for our country or in a foreign land. I would choose to spend our money on OUR soil and invest in OUR country. "For starters, $1.2 trillion would pay for an unprecedented public health campaign — a doubling of cancer research funding, treatment for every American whose diabetes or heart disease is now going unmanaged and a global immunization campaign to save millions of children’s lives." Taken from NY times, David Leonhardt, 1-2007. He also notes that "the cost of running those programs for a decade wouldn’t use up even half our money pot... The final big chunk of the money could go to national security... better baggage and cargo screening, stronger measures against nuclear proliferation — could be enacted. Financing for the war in Afghanistan could be increased to beat back the Taliban’s recent gains, and a peacekeeping force could put a stop to the genocide in Darfur. ---OR--- All that would be one way to spend $1.2 trillion. Here would be another: The war in Iraq." So, why are people not so up in arms about the spending/ waste in Iraq?
CONT: Uh huh... Yea right pal!
...the first people kicked to the curb.
Uh huh... Yea right pal!
Virginia Beach is a bedroom community supported by the military and government. Everything else exists to serve the needs of that one entity either directly or indirectly. To say that the area has 'buffered' the brunt of this pseudo recession (I believe it is teetering on the brink of depression bolstered by government entitlements) is complete foolishness.
Most lower paid service workers employed with businesses that have not been hit by the recession are seeing diminished hours at the worst. People still order pizza, go out to eat, drop by seven eleven for a 12 pack, grocery shop, buy school supplies for their kids, etc. Blue collar trades like construction and manufacturing (manufacturing is a virtually non-player in our local job market due to high property values - minus the shipyard) are getting kicked in the groin.
So... It is all a matter of perspective. Turn your head one way and you'll say "Hey! Were all going to be okay!" Turn your head another and you're saying "Damn! What are we going to do?"
Truth is... the person that lost a job in construction or manufacturing can't survive on working a store counter or delivering pizzas. Those options were all sucked up by
Keep your hatred
for other political parties out of the discussion and you might get somewhere. I'm not an Obama fan but even I won't resort to blaming him for the state the economy is in, that blame lies at our own feet for agreeing to buy overpriced McMansions and tank sized SUV's that get 8 miles to the gallon.
The recession started in 05 as compared to 06 like so many want to claim, spending time in Miami in 05 and living in the motor city I read news articles about the fast falling home prices in Miami and the stagnant job market back home.
Regardless of whether the government industry is keeping this area afloat or not I won't be one to complain and the wages here are not lower than the national average in the skilled trades / professional arena's in the least bit, if anything they're better than what I've seen and experienced in other larger metropolitan area's.
Who are they trying to fool?
This article is nothing but an attempt to blow smoke up where the sun doesn't shine. Who does the Virginia Pilot really think they are fooling?
The only truthful part of this article is about DOD jobs buffering the region. If it wasn't for those jobs, this area would be just as bad as the worse cities listed. As it is, wages for this area are lower than others because of the military. Hampton Roads is a place where you have to WANT to be here for what the region offers and not for the paycheck.
federal spending
i have been in the area for over 35 years, 30 of that in mortgage banking. this economy has always been isoloated from the peaks and vallys of other economies simply due to the huge amount of government spending.this is good and this is also bad, because there are virtually no home based corporations located here, which keeps salaries below the national average and is also why there are no national sports teams. the lack of private sector jobs,(excluding resort dollars, port terminals, and shipyards), and private sector capital prevents this area from being competitive
"However, the recovery of
"However, the recovery of Hampton Roads' economy has been restrained by a decline in housing prices and a rising number of foreclosures, Berube said."
So overpriced housing equals recovery? Where do they get these people. The problem isn't prices going down, it's that they went up in the first place. Up over 100%, while incomes went up 20%. Love that debt, you sheep.
Hampton Roads is socialist, like that healthcare stuff. The big bucks here comes from taxpayers and national debt, not from companies selling products to other countries.
More production, less gov't.
Agree JennieMoo
The Military has insulated Va. by Government jobs and money being spent to stimulate our economy. Obama's nationwide 9.7% or more unemployment and the lie "I created and or saved jobs" is laughable. Can we outlast this guy? My opinion unemployment will continue to increase if the current administration continues there anti capitalist and Big Government agenda.While Americans are loosing there jobs guess what sector has had steady increase in employment?????..... the Government!