The Morgantown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Monongalia and Preston counties, posted solid job gains during the past four quarters, outpacing state and national growth, according to the latest edition of the Morgantown MSA Economic Monitor from the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics.

“Morgantown job growth was 1.2 percent from the third quarter of 2009 to the same quarter of 2010. That was quadruple the state growth rate and six times the national rate,” said George W. Hammond, associate director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, which operates under the college. State job growth was 0.3 percent and national growth was 0.2 percent during the same period.

Both Monongalia and Preston counties generated job gains during the past four quarters.

“This signals a nice rebound in job growth for Preston County, which posted large job losses during the previous year. Overall, the Morgantown metropolitan area generated robust job gains,” Hammond said.

Most of the local job growth came in the service-providing sectors, including leisure and hospitality; government; professional and business services; and trade, transportation, and utilities. The goods-producing sector also added jobs, with gains in mining/logging and manufacturing. Construction and financial activities posted job losses during the past four quarters.

Morgantown continues to boast a relatively low unemployment rate, although the rate has surged upward since 2008.

“The local unemployment rate has more than doubled since 2008, but remains far below the state and nation,” Hammond said. “The Morgantown unemployment rate was 3.0 percent on average during the first nine months of 2008. During the first nine months of 2010, the local unemployment rate averaged 6.2 percent, which was much lower than the state rate of 9.2 percent and the national rate of 9.8 percent during the same period.”

Morgantown’s cost of living was close to the national average during the third quarter of 2010, but remained well above estimates for the other participating areas in the state: Charleston, Harrison County and Martinsburg-Berkeley County.

“Morgantown’s average cost of living was driven down by relatively low grocery, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services prices and driven up by relatively high housing costs,” said Amy Higginbotham, BBER economist.

This data comes from the ACCRA Cost of Living survey, which is compiled by the Council for Community and Economic Research and is a quarterly comparison of the costs of 60 specific items in urban areas throughout the nation. These items reflect a typical market basket of goods and services purchased by an upper-income household and are categorized into five types: grocery items, healthcare, transportation, housing, and miscellaneous goods and services.

The January 2011 edition of the Morgantown MSA Economic Monitor, compiled by the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research, contains the full analysis of these trends. The Monitor is a semi-annual publication of the BBER. Copies of the publication can be found at www.bber.wvu.edu. Information about the ACCRA Cost of Living Report can be found at www.coli.org.

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CONTACT: George W. Hammond, Bureau of Business and Economic Research
304-293-7876; GHammond@mail.wvu.edu

or

Amy Higginbotham, economist
304-293-7534; AFHigginbotham@mail.wvu.edu

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