Joblessness in N. Virginia could be more in line with rest of the country

"Virginia is more vulnerable to this kind of policy shift than any other state," said Stephen Fuller, director of the Center of Regional Analysis at George Mason University. "Defense spending was our strength during the downturn. It kept unemployment lower here than in most other states. It kept the economy from crashing as far as other states'. It's also our Achilles' heel."

- The Washington Post, August 9, 2010

The good times in Northern Virginia might take a significant hit if the business of defending the country goes the way of many other businesses in the last couple of years. The unemployment rate here is about half the national average. This is an area that employs hundreds of thousands of government workers and has numerous private-sector companies that do work for the Defense Department and related agencies. Many northern Virginians have simply been oblivious about the horrible job market outside of the area.

Of course, Northern Virginia hasn't been totally immune to the economic downturn. Even before the recession started, AOL (once the charm of the high-tech world) had several rounds of massive layoffs and relocated most of its remaining operations to New York. Gannett, a major newspaper and media company based in McLean, Va., laid off thousands (including me) throughout the entire company. Some restaurants have closed. Some offices remain vacant. But we have always had the government jobs. Those are good jobs that keep housing prices from crashing and continue to bring new and highly educated job-seekers to the area.

Defense and national security, in one way or another, drive most everything here -- from local coffee shops that cater to government employees to the technology corridor that does contract work for Uncle Sam. People who work for the government or related firms have been a fearless, confident group throughout the recession. But that is now in jeopardy here and down in the Norfolk region. The loss of a few thousand jobs might not send the state's economy crashing much further, but it won't help failing municipal budgets or the confidence of people already looking for jobs. Read more.