The Morgantown metropolitan statistical area will likely register a strong pace of job growth over the next few years, according to the latest forecast from West Virginia University.
The WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research released the economic forecast today (Nov. 18) at the Morgantown MSA Economic Outlook Conference.
“The Morgantown MSA suffered only minimal effects of the Great Recession and has managed to post solid job growth in each of the last four years, thanks to significant gains in the region’s health care, manufacturing and consumer-oriented sectors,” said John Deskins, director of the BBER, which operates in the College of Business & Economics. “We expect Morgantown’s economy to build upon these gains going forward, posting 1.4 percent job growth annually over the next five years.”
However, Deskins cautioned, there are factors that present uncertainty for West Virginia and for all states.
“Lingering risks to the global and U.S. economies, the inevitable rise in interest rates and an uncertain federal fiscal environment create risks that cloud our forecast,” he said.
“The health care sector has been the largest contributor to regional job growth over the past few years, driven by broader national trends in health care hiring, as well as large expansions undertaken by WVU Healthcare and Mon General Hospital.”
Deskins also said that the recent growth in Morgantown’s economy has been broad based, as nearly all major sectors have added jobs recently.
Education and health services will remain the region’s top source of job growth in the coming years, but other major sectors such as professional and business services and construction will also drive the region’s gains during the outlook period. Growth is expected in most other sectors as well, according to Deskins.
“Unemployment in the region is substantially below the state and national averages. And recent improvement in unemployment has been driven entirely by job growth, rather than by labor force attrition,” Deskins said.
“Personal income per capita has also grown at a healthy pace in the region recently, exceeding both state and national averages.
“One significant difference in the Morgantown area, compared to the state overall, is the fact that the region’s population has been growing at a healthy pace for many years. This trend is expected to continue. The population in Morgantown is also noticeably younger compared to the state average, and is much more highly educated,” Deskins said.
Full details are available in the printed publication available from the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research for $20 per copy, or for free download in PDF format at be.wvu.edu/bber. Visit be.wvu.edu/bber/publications.aspx to purchase the report or view other BBER publications.
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CONTACT: John Deskins, WVU College of Business & Economics
304.293.7876; John.Deskins@mail.wvu.edu
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