Our area has lost five hundred jobs in the past year, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress. That decline of 0.5% is the worst of any of the state’s nine largest metropolitan areas. What the Progress doesn’t tell us is where these 500 jobs disappeared from, since there have been no major layoffs in the area. Small-scale job losses have recently occurred, or are soon coming, from LexisNexis, Circuit City, and Luck Stone, but that’s a) not part of these numbers and b) just a drop in the bucket.
9pm Update: I’m a moron. McNeill wrote: “The Charlottesville region’s lost jobs over the past year were primarily in the construction and manufacturing industries.” It makes sense that this area, a part of the growth boom (especially Fluvanna), would fall particularly hard as the bubble collapsed.
From the DP Article about five paragraphs in:
Who’s not building anything anymore?
(and I think you wanted to say “Luck Stone” not “store.”)
This is what happens every time I post something just as I’m headed out the door. And yet I persist. There’s just no learning going on here.
Sounds like a good time for some job sites –
http://www.linkedin.com (professional networking)
http://www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches jobs based on your skills)
Good look to those looking for work!
And a number of those lost jobs were with the DP itself!
And how about all those Washington Post carriers losing their jobs because Progress carriers will also be delivering the Post?
It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Lots of folks in buliding/electrical work/plumbing etc. only have jobs lined up through like mid-December. This time a year ago they were booked for a few months at least.
That’s why it’s so important to fix the frickin’ credit markets even before BO takes office on 1/20/09. I just don’t know how to do it and am unsure anyone else does either.
Will- If the local economy relies on the construction and development sectors to maintain its health, the area might be in for even darker days. Too bad that the anti-growth vocal minority holds the purse strings.
Economic officials should have been a bit more proactive over the last ten years instead of sitting on their hands and watching a good number of the larger employers in the region close up shop. For too long, UVa has been relied on as the golden goose.
tomr – UVA has always been the golden goose and will continue to be the golden goose. UVA is not going any place any time soon and will always remain the foundation of our economic proposperity in this region. This region always stays ahead of the economic curve in good times and bad times. The rest of the country can be going down the tubes and this region will weather the economic storm nicely. Plenty of money and plenty of jobs for people if they want to work in this region, central virginia.
Healthy economies don’t rely on one golden goose; what intelligent person puts all his eggs in one basket? Maybe no one cared when businesses such as Technicolor and ConAgra closed. Hopefully the decline in jobs is temporary, but most other regions in the state experienced a growth in jobs and several recorded growth in retail sales, as well.
Whole Foods seems to have ground to a stop. The Landmark is on hold. The bank at Emmett and Preston is nothing but dirt for months.
Most on this blog were sniping away like mad at the development at the corner of Hydro and 29.
Lots of people in the building industry not sure how they will buy presents for their kids next month.
Places are up for sale like crazy and business Realtor are circling like sharks in the water.
@Jogger, where you been?
UVa not only has a wage/hiring freeze, but has had a budget cut of 7% imposed by the state. It’s going to get bigger next year.
And the endowment just suffered $900 MILLION loss. Sure, it’s a huge endowment. It also has a gigantic ongoing exposure to “investments” that aren’t returning.
Golden Goose? Not laying golden eggs right now nor for the foreseeable future.
your comment “Plenty of money and plenty of jobs for people if they want to work in this region, central virginia” is not only pejorative to people who need work and can’t find it, but also ill-informed.
Well let’s not forget all the servers, sous-chefs, and head-chefs employed here in C’ville. We might see a slew of our specialized restaurant choices going away, while the line at the Mickey-Ds gets longer, and longer. Would you like fries with that?