Lynchburg Business

State Report Shows Encouraging Signs for Lynchburg Region

Issue: July 2010 by Lynchburg Business in In the News

Encouraging signs are emerging in regards to the employment growth in Region 2000. In June, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Fifth District report showed that while the state’s employment growth came in at minus .05 percent for the most recently tracked month of April, the Lynchburg region showed a positive growth of 0.7 percent. The only other region in the Fifth District to show a positive number was Northern Virginia.

Statewide, the unemployment rate went from 6.9 percent in January to 7.2 percent in April, while the state labor force decreased over that same period. In contrast, Lynchburg’s unemployment rate decreased from 8.7 percent in January to 7.5 percent in April, while the labor force expanded.

According to Bryan David, Economic Development Director with Virginia’s Region 2000 Partnership, “This shows me that our region’s businesses are seeing some relief and some have even begun to hire again. We all know that one month doesn’t make a trend, but it’s a good sign that things here are moving in the right direction.”