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Virginia ranks 3rd in CNBC’s Top States for Business
After two consecutive years at the top, Virginia slipped to third place in CNBC’s 2022 America’s Top States for Business rankings, the business news channel announced Wednesday morning. North Carolina achieved the coveted No. 1 ranking this year. “A great education system is building a smart workforce,” CNBC said about Virginia this year. “But migration […]
Higher gas prices are needed
The U.S. inflation rate, which reached 8.6% in May, is at its highest point in 40 years. In 1982, it was just over 6%. Since then, the U.S. inflation rate has hovered mostly in the 2% to 4% range. The inflation rate is determined by changes in the cost of a fixed basket of 80,000 […]
Barkin: Inflation high, but Fed has tools to contain it
Tom Barkin agrees — inflation is too high. But he also says the Fed has the authority to get it back on the right track. That’s what the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond told the Richmond chapter of the Risk Management Association on Tuesday at Triple Crossing Beer, a brewery […]
Economic growth to continue slowing, ODU experts say
The U.S. economy will continue to slow in the second half of 2022 and a recession is increasingly likely, according to the Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economy Analysis and Policy’s mid-year economic forecast released Friday. Increases in inflation are expected to slow as well but harden, leaving costs elevated, report Robert McNab and […]
April Va. hotel revenues down slightly from pre-pandemic
Virginia hotel revenues in April were down 3.5% compared with pre-pandemic April 2019 revenues, largely due to the lagging Northern Virginia market, according to data released Wednesday by STR Inc., a division of CoStar Group Inc. that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. Hotel rooms sold decreased by 4.7% last month, compared with […]
Rainmaker-in-chief
On Aug. 29, 2005, Jason El Koubi’s first day as research and policy director for Louisiana’s Baton Rouge regional chamber of commerce, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the state, resetting El Koubi’s and the state’s trajectory. It was a fast lesson in crisis management, but also one in economic transformation. That job was among his first […]
A diversified portfolio
In a city where tourism reigns, nothing could be more welcome than a post-pandemic world. And though we’re not quite there yet, Virginia Beach is licking its chops over the prospect of maskless visitors pouring into town. The city, with fingers crossed in hopes that new coronavirus variants don’t arrive before the tourists do, is […]
Fifth District economy growth is moderate, Fed says
The Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) continued to grow moderately despite supply chain issues, labor shortages and rising prices, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday. The Beige Book is published eight times per year and is based on anecdotal information [...]
Fed still likely to raise rates, despite Russia-Ukraine conflict
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Thomas Barkin said Thursday that he hopes to bring interest rates up to pre-pandemic levels “relatively quickly,” while noting that it’s hard to predict the future effect of the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the nation’s economy. Speaking at a luncheon in Colonial Heights hosted […]
Port of Va. had $100B+ economic impact in FY21
Amid some of the toughest months of the pandemic, the Port of Virginia set cargo records, processing more than 3.2 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, and generating more than $100.1 billion in ancillary economic impact, according to the port’s fiscal 2021 economic impact report released Thursday. According […]
Va. economic growth will slow in 2022, ODU economists predict
Virginia’s economy is likely to grow at a slightly slower pace in 2022 than it did last year, with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to make future predictions murky, according to the 2022 Annual Economic Forecast released Wednesday by Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. “If we can control COVID-19, the economy […]
Va. new unemployment claims up 16%
New unemployment claims in Virginia increased 16% last week, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. For the filing week ending Jan. 15, Virginians filed 2,849 initial claims, an increase of 406 from the week before. Continued claims totaled 7,059, down 1,131 from the previous week. Compared to the same week last year, initials claims were […]
