Shutdown, Unemployment, Recession
According to Moody’s, Virginia is on its way to recession, just the latest in a series of truly great events to strike the commonwealth.
It’s no secret that Virginia is home to one of the largest swaths of federal employees, and since Trump’s first day in office, those federal employees have been under attack. So far, this has only hurt families in Virginia. And now, with the third-longest government shutdown in history, Virginia and our federal workers are back in the headlines.
Because of the shutdown, federal workers across Virginia have been either furloughed or straight-up fired. This has obviously created high levels of unemployment, building on the already elevated numbers we’ve been experiencing since January. You know what happens when there’s massive unemployment? A rocky economy!
Our economy is so rocky that we are, in fact, on the brink of a recession. State economic experts Sonya Waddell and Stephen Cummings are saying there’s no need to worry yet. Our unemployment isn’t the worst it’s ever been (see: COVID, 2008 recession), and we are still adding jobs. The glaringly obvious fear is that our economy is so linked to the federal government that disaster could still strike.
How long will any of this last? We don’t know. Will it have lasting effects? Probably. Does it give us all the more reason to fight for affordability and ensure Virginians have the resources they need to get ahead? You bet it does.
