Economy
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell described Northern Virginia as "the economic engine of the state" during a January 2010 Northern Virginia Technology Council address. The federal government is a major employer in Northern Virginia, which is home to numerous government agencies; these include the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters and the Pentagon (headquarters of the Department of Defense), as well as Fort Myer, Fort Belvoir, Marine Corps Base Quantico, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the United States Geological Survey.
Government contracting is an important part of the region's economy. Arlington alone is home to over 600 federal contractors, and has the highest weekly wages of any major jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area.
As of 2007, the Northern Virginia office submarkets contain 172,000,000 square feet (16,000,000 m2) of office space, 33% more than those in Washington and 55% more than those in its Maryland suburbs. 8,000,000 square feet (740,000 m2) of office space is under construction in Northern Virginia. 60% of the construction is occurring in the Dulles Corridor submarket.
Northern Virginia's data centers currently carry more than 50% of the nation's Internet traffic, and by 2012 Dominion Power expects that 10% of all electricity it sends to Northern Virginia will be used by the region's data centers alone. Loudoun County has 4,000,000 square feet (370,000 m2) of data center space and currently has 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) approved or under construction.
In September 2008 the unemployment rate in Northern Virginia was 3.2%, the lowest of any metropolitan area if ranked. The national unemployment rate in September 2008 was 6.2%. While the U.S. as a whole had negative job growth from September 2007 to September 2008, Northern Virginia gained 12,800 jobs, representing half of Virginia's new jobs. After months of increases, the unemployment rate of Northern Virginia held steady at 5.2% in March 2008. As of July 2010 the unemployment rate of the region 5.2%, down from 5.3% in the previous month.
Read more about this topic: Northern Virginia
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of generations, peoples, of entire planets, has no importance in relation to the general development.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)