by Paula C. Squires
Strong job creation, diverse industries and low unemployment give the greater Washington region an edge as a premiere business location and will pave the way for future growth, a report said today.
The 2010 Regional Report by the Greater Washington Initiative describes the region as the country’s fifth largest regional economy with a 2009 GRP (gross regional product) of $443 billion. Since 2000, the region has added more than 270,000 jobs to its payrolls, mostly in the professional and business services sector — the second highest number of new jobs than any metropolitan region in the country.
The report also notes that private sector employment increased by nearly 35,000 jobs from January thorough April of this year. The area’s unemployment rate stood at below 7 percent in March, well below the national rate of 9.7 percent.
Greater Washington (an area of 6.2 million) includes the jurisdictions of Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. Other takeaways from the report:
• Region offers country’s most educated workforce (47 percent of the workforce has a bachelor’s degree and 21 percent has a graduate or professional degree).
• Airports provide service to 40 world cities, connecting the region to 80 percent of the world’s economy.
• The area is No. 1 in the U.S. in federal procurement, with $75.6 billion worth of goods and services procured in fiscal 2009.
• The median household income — $85,824 — is the highest in the U.S.
The report is available online at http://www.greaterwashington.org
As a commercial real estate owner, developer, and property manager, this is encouraging information indeed.
--Robert L. Travers of Springfield, VA
Jul. 15, 2010 at 04:31 PM