In an important sign that things have stopped getting worse:
The number of Richmond-area residents making a first claim for unemployment insurance after losing their jobs declined to 4,504 in October from 5,057 in September, the Virginia Employment Commission reported yesterday.
“For the last 60 to 90 days, claims have definitely lightened up,” said William F. Mezger, the commission’s chief economist.
The RTD article also references one of the important sources of stability in the local economy:
“The colleges provide a lot of stability in Richmond, and the expansion at Fort Lee is one of the biggest projects in the country,” Mezger said.
And also points out that, though times are tough in Richmond, it’s not near as bad here as in other areas of the country:
Richmond had the ninth-lowest unemployment rate among major metropolitan areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday — but other Virginia areas did even better, with Norfolk-Newport News posting a 6.5 percent unemployment rate and Northern Virginia a 4.7 percent rate. The statewide rate for October was 6.3 percent, well below the national rate of 9.5 percent.
You can read the whole article here.
