West Virginia: Demographer Reports Decline in Working Age Population

According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and evaluated by the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), the number of working-age people is on the decline in West Virginia. In addition, the overall number of the working-age population ages 18-64 decreased by 0.03% between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011.

BBER demongrapher Dr. Christiadi stated that "The year of 2011 may be the start of the new trend where the number of state’s working-age population gradually shrinks over time." The prime working-age population (people ages 25-44) saw the largest drop of 0.6%, and this trend took place in 48 of 55 counties (87.3%), with 13 counties (23.6%) declining more than 2%.

"When it comes to people getting or changing jobs, the state still sees more people moving out rather than moving in. In addition, West Virginia has more and more out-of-state college students, which partly explains why we see more college graduates moving out of the state," Christiadi said.

Source: West Virginia University Press Release (May 18, 2012)

West Virginia: Census Bureau Issues Profile of the Older Worker

In a continuation of its partnership with 31 states on a series of reports on workers 55 and older, the Census Bureau has released its report on West Virginia, the 26th state to be released in the series. Among the highlights of the report--"The Geographic Distribution and Characteristics of Older Workers in West Virginia: 2004":

• 13.8% of workers were 55 and older, while 2.7% were 65 and older;
• statewide, other sevices (except public administration) had the highest proportion of workers in that age group, but no industry had 20% or more; and
• the state's health care and social assistance industry employed the greatest number of older workers, with about 18.8% of the workers 55 and older being in that sector.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics What's New (December 17, 2008)