The economy of West Virginias north-central region will outpace the state during the next five years, according to a forecast issued today (March 1) at the North-Central Regional Economic Outlook Conference in Morgantown.
The north-central region has added jobs and population faster than the state since 2000 and is forecast to keep up the pace during the next five years, said George Hammond of the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research in the College of Business and Economics. The region includes Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston and Taylor counties.
The region added jobs at an average annual rate of 1.3 percent during the 2000-04 period, in contrast to net job losses for the state and the nation,Hammond said.
The region added jobs in most sectors during the period, but the fastest growth was concentrated in professional and business services (call centers and high-tech), construction, health care and leisure and hospitality. The region has also added new residents and posted growth in per capita personal income.
Within the region, the fastest growth lately has come in the Morgantown metropolitan statistical area, with job growth in the combined Monongalia and Preston County area averaging 2.2 percent per year since 2000,Hammond added.
The strongest job gains in the MSA came in professional and business services, construction, government and health care. In addition, the MSA has registered very strong population gains since 2000, with the MSA growth rate (.8 percent per year) far exceeding the state rate of .1 percent and coming close to the national rate of 1 percent.
The MSA also experienced the fastest per capita income growth (5.6 percent per year) during the last five years and the lowest unemployment rate (3.5 percent) in 2004 of any of the labor markets in the north-central region.
Overall, the north-central region is well positioned to grow faster than the state and in some cases the nation,Hammond said.
The region as a whole and the Morgantown MSA in particular boast a significant concentration of highly educated residents. This will be a key component of future economic growth, particularly with respect to gains in high-paying service sector jobs, he said.
The region and the MSA also continue to invest in productive infrastructure, with expansions and renovations planned for the regions retail, education, health care and medical research, high-tech and tourism sectors.