RICHMOND, VA—Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is looking to the private sector to help key a turnaround for the state that has recently lagged behind the nation in terms of job growth.
A recently released report by the governor attributes the region's woes to its close ties to the federal government. “The commonwealth currently has a material imbalance in its job generating machinery,” the report states. “We are overly dependent on the public sector for economic prosperity.”
About 30% of Virginia's economy is tied to the federal government, and the Defense Department is by far its biggest employer, according to the Washington Post.
No wonder the Virginia economy and particularly Northern Virginia has encountered some difficulty. Since 2010, according to the report, the federal payroll dropped $1.16 billion, or 7.5%, causing consecutive monthly federal job losses in Virginia for more than a year. See story in the Washington Post.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
