Local job growth over past decade has outpaced state, nation – The Winchester Star
Clear skies. Low near 20F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..
Clear skies. Low near 20F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: January 3, 2022 @ 3:49 pm
Reporter
WINCHESTER — Old Dominion University‘s 2021 State of the Commonwealth Report reveals that more than half the population of the Winchester Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) works outside of the region, but the area is in no immediate danger of becoming a bedroom community.
That’s because the Winchester MSA — comprised of Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, and Hampshire County, West Virginia — has become an appealing location for a variety of businesses.
In 2019, the report states, “more than half of all jobs in the Winchester metro area were in three major industries: trade, transportation and utilities (22.1%); education and health services (17.5%); and manufacturing (11.9%).”
Major employers listed in the report include Amazon’s distribution center in Frederick County, which has more than 1,000 workers and is the fourth-largest employment provider in the Winchester MSA; Walmart and Home Depot, each of which employ more than 500 people in the region; Valley Health, a Winchester-based health care network that employs more than 1,000 people and is the region’s top employment provider; and Frederick County Public Schools, the second-largest employer in the MSA with approximately 1,000 workers.
The availability of local jobs has increased significantly following the Great Recession. According to the report, a total of 53,842 jobs existed in the MSA when the recession ended in 2009; by 2019, that figure had risen to 65,875. The 25.7% increase was 8.1% greater than the national average and 12% higher than the rest of Virginia.
The COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 threatened to tarnish the region’s rosy employment picture, but the negative impacts on local jobs proved to be short-lived. By April 2020, the report states, the Winchester MSA had lost approximately 10% of its jobs, but its recovery since then has outpaced the rest of Virginia and the United States. By October 2021, the number of local jobs was actually 0.7% higher than the MSA’s pre-pandemic record of 65,875.
“The Winchester metropolitan area may be relatively small when compared to the Richmond or Hampton Roads regions — let alone the Washington, D.C., metro area — but its story is worth telling,” the 2021 State of the Commonwealth Report states. “Over the past decade, the Winchester region outpaced both the state and nation in terms of job growth. Median household income rose more rapidly in the Winchester metro area than any other metropolitan region in the commonwealth and the nation as a whole.”
— Contact Brian Brehm at bbrehm@winchesterstar.com
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