Perhaps you can attribute it to some variant of Stockholm syndrome.
Last week, Gov. Jim Justice went on something of a rant at journalists for not asking happier questions.
“These are great numbers,” he said. “We ought to be jumping up and down.”
Perhaps he’s right about some who identify with and are often benign or rarely get excited about our state’s mediocre economic data and poor rankings. As for journalists, we’re paid to be skeptical.
The governor’s tirade took place at a news conference recently to tout the state’s April revenue numbers.
But he’s right to be excited. Recent numbers portray an improving state economy on several fronts, including:
- Cumulative tax collections for April were nearly $24 million ahead of estimates and revenues were nearly 99.9 percent for year-to-date estimates.
- An international credit rating agency assigned the state a AA bond rating for an upcoming $800 million bond sale for bigger road projects.
- WorkForce West Virginia numbers found the state added 6,900 new jobs in the private sector, including in construction, mining and tourism.
- And federal data released Friday show that gross domestic product climbed significantly across several states, including West Virginia, last year.
Obviously, this kind of news comes as a shock to most West Virginians. No, not like winning the lottery — more like finding a $20 bill in a parking lot.
But coming with two months left in the fiscal year and knowing the state is actually headed to a strong finish, instead of falling well short of projections, is different.
And that improved credit rating for those general obligation bonds as part of the Roads to Prosperity program might not seem like much. But it will potentially save taxpayers millions in interest paying these bonds off.
As for the job numbers we can temper those a bit as many are seasonal and attribute them to the fact that many workers have migrated out of state.
The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis may come as the biggest shock of all.
West Virginia ranked No. 10 out of the 50 states in real (overall) GDP, at 2.6 percent, and No. 1 in per capita GDP, 3.3 percent, between 2016-’17.
Much of that overall GDP increase can be attributed to the mining sector, according to these preliminary estimates. Nationally, GDP rose 2.1 percent last year.
That No. 1 status is attributed to energy sectors rebounding last year.
We know. Those numbers don’t jibe with what’s happened to our local economy of late. Yet statewide, these numbers are nothing short of some applause.
But forgive us for making excuses for reporters. They don’t jump up and down at anyone’s command.
