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The problem is when the feds cut jobs contracts disappear. That means the non-fed job market gets hammered even worse. Contractors here are already feeling the pressure as contracts are not being renewed or scaled back due to the continuing resolution. Many of these contracts extend far beyond the beltway. In the Virginia counties much of the wealth is due to contractor businesses. This money will shrivel up over the next few years and you will see the pinch felt across the country. It sounds easy and a quick fix but it is neither.
I'm not sure where you got your list from but it is only 5 of the top 10. Fairfax City (5) is not part of the county. Calvert County is #13 and Charles County is #21. I'm sure this was a typo or errant keystroke...
According to the Washingotn Examiner, "Fairfax Supervisor John Cook, R-Braddock, said his county continues to outrank Montgomery because Fairfax's more flexible tax laws help to attract businesses.
"We're so much better off here than other places," he said. "It's not like we're talking about draconian cuts or anything."
To Cook's point, a recent report commissioned by the Montgomery County Council found that Fairfax has outpaced Montgomery in job growth since the mid-1980s and now boasts 200,000 more jobs than its neighbor across the Potomac River.
Northern Virginia and Fairfax also house government agencies and employers that have been less affected by the economic downturn than biotech-heavy Montgomery, Robertson said.
While other traditionally wealthy regions such as New York and San Francisco have suffered heavily in the recession, the Washington area benefits from the presence of the federal government and its contractors, the overall high level of education, and the area's high proportion of two-income households."
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