Who Knew?
[I]D.C. Area Recession Ended in First Quarter[/I]The D.C. region pulled out of the recession months ahead of
the rest of the nation, according to a year-end economic report from Delta Associates.
Delta Associates says the recession in the Washington area ended during the first quarter of 2009 and that a slow recovery is under way in the region. Washington is typically less impacted by economic gyrations than other parts of the country. According to the Delta Associates report, a net 40,400 new jobs have been added in the Washington region since Jan. 31, 2009 and unemployment in the metro area had dropped to 6.2 percent in September, giving the Washington metro area the lowest unemployment rate among comparable U.S. metros. Unemployment peaked at 6.5 percent in June.
“The most striking evidence of the recovery is the turn-around in job growth that occurred early this year,” Delta said in its report. “In addition, confidence and retail sales are rising, albeit moderately.”
The report, completed with George Mason University Professor Stephen Fuller, projects job growth in 2010, with 24,900 new jobs and another 34,900 new jobs in 2011.
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