West Virginia’s economic outlook could use a little more oomph, according to a new digest produced by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
“We’ve done a lot, I think, to improve the business climate in West Virginia and send signals to companies — ‘Hey, invest your money here and we’ll take care of you,'” said Brian Dayton, vice president of policy and advocacy for the West Virginia Chamber, speaking on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
He cited changes to West Virginia’s landscape surrounding lawsuits as well as elimination of the business franchise tax.
Dayton noted that the most recent CNBC list of Top States for Business ranked West Virginia 40th overall, which was an improvement.
“So that is a really significant move in the right direction,” Dayton said. “That’s cause to say ‘That’s good.’ Let’s talk about what we’re doing there. Now next year how do we get to 35 or 30 — and the next year after that, how do we keep advancing forward.”
So the business-focused organization dug a little deeper with specific state rankings on economic indicators.
The result was the West Virginia Campaign for Jobs 2024 Digest, which shows where West Virginia lands on a series of key business metrics.
For the 10-year job growth rate, West Virginia ranks 50th in the nation.
West Virginia’s workforce participation rate, long a drag on state economic activity, ranks 49th in the country at 55.1 percent. The national workforce participation rate is 62.7 percent. The workforce participation rate includes both people who are employed and those who are looking for work. To calculate the figure, the labor force is divided by the total adult population — so in West Virginia’s case the figure is always affected by the sheer number of retired or disabled people.
For personal income, West Virginia is 49th lowest.
“That’s a concerning statistic,” Dayton said. “That signifies to us, a lot of work still to be done. What it also really signifies is we need to have more good-paying jobs in West Virginia to start to link that ranking up.”
The state’s tax burden is considered 14th highest, and business taxes are considered eight highest.
“Businesses pay a higher proportion compared to other states, so we are more reliant on business taxes than 42 other states in the country is what that metric means,” Dayton said.
A ray of sunshine is the residential property tax rate, where West Virginia is 13th lowest in the country.
“When you look at it, we’re very much on the low end. We’re at the bottom quarter for residential property taxes,” Dayton said.
And wages per hour of production workers is fifth highest in the country for West Virginia.
“That’s the average wages per hours paid. It’s primarily driven by the manufacturing and energy sectors, but it’s of production workers,” Dayton said. “What that says is we do have a lot of well-paying jobs, especially in the production field.”
On domestic migration — the number of people moving to the state –West Virginia ranked middle of the pack at 23rd. Net domestic migration for West Virginia was 3,595.
“So this is a really promising statistic,” Dayton said. “For the past few years now, West Virginia has had more people move into the state than we’ve had move out of the state.”
He added, “What’s important to remember when you talk about that is our birth rate. We’re still losing population because since 2007 deaths have exceeded births. So we’ve gotten part of the equation correct now that we’re getting more people to move here. Our birth rate is still a major concern.”
The most recent MetroNews West Virginia Poll showed that most respondents believe the economy is the most important problem facing the United States today.
Yet most are ambivalent about the direction of the state’s economy. Most, 45%, said they believe it will stay about the same over the coming year. Thirty percent think the state’s economy will get worse, and 26% say it will improve.
Dayton, speaking broadly about the economic picture, agreed there is room to improve.
“I think we’re making progress. I think we’re on the right path,” Dayton said. “The reason we’ve put this report out, the reason we’re sharing it, is it’s a reminder that you can’t just sit out and say we’ve done it and it’s been great now. We still have a lot of work to do. We clearly have put ourselves on the map. We’re attracting some fantastic developments into West Virginia, but we need to do a lot more of that.
“We’re going to have to continue to be real with ourselves, look at these statistics, look at how we compare with other states around the country. At the end of the day, we’re in a competition. We are competing against 49 other states and the District of Columbia for in West Virginia. So we have to be realistic and pay attention. There are some good things to be happy about, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”