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As Labor Day weekend 2013 kicks-off, a report by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy shows that
working families are unlikely to recover soon without rigorous policy action at the federal and state level.
In the
State of Working West Virginia 2011, the Center's analysis shows that while the state has fared better than its
neighbor states throughout the recession, a healthy economic recovery remains elusive because of the high
number of unemployed workers and a lost decade of job growth.
Contributing to the slow economic recovery is the state's growing jobs deficit.
The report finds that for the
state's job base to keep pace with the workforce, West Virginia would need to add 20,300 jobs to regain its pre-recession
employment rate.
This includes the 10,400 jobs West Virginia has not yet regained plus the 9,900 jobs
it needs to keep up with population since the recession began.
"This year's State of Working West Virginia underscores that our real deficit problem, the one that matters most
to working families, is the jobs deficit. Getting people back into the labor force and back to work should be our
primary goal," explained Sean O'Leary, co-author of the report and policy analyst with the West Virginia Center
on Budget and Policy.
One effect of the Great Recession has been a sharp increase in long-term unemployment.
The long-term
unemployment rate is at its highest rate in nearly 30 years, with approximately one in three unemployed
workers out of work for more than six months in 2010.
Younger workers have also been particularly hard hit.
The state's employment rate for its youngest population fell by nearly 14 percent over the past decade while the
rate for West Virginians over the age of 55 increased by nearly 10 percent.
The report stresses the importance of putting workers back to work by boosting customized workforce training,
creating a job subsidy program for the unemployed, and by investing in infrastructure and local communities.
Existing programs can be expanded and better funded, such as the Governor's Guaranteed Workforce Training
Program, which provides both businesses and workers with customized job training.
"While we technically are in an economic recovery, the jobs crisis is still crippling the economy and scarring
working families in the Mountain State," said Ted Boettner, co-author of the report and executive director of the
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
"The only way out of the economic doldrums is if we take action at
the state and federal level to getting workers working again."
The WV Center on Budget and Policy's full report is available at www.wvpolicy.org in PDF format.
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