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A new report shows a surprising region in Virginia has a struggling economy

The economy in one region of Virginia is facing problems. And it might not be the region you're expecting.

Northern Virginia is in trouble. According to a recent report from the Stephen Fuller Institute at George Mason University, the region has stagnant wages, flat salaries and rising unemployment.

Keith Waters is assistant director of the Fuller Institute, and he says one trend that he finds particularly worrisome is the region's most important job sector is struggling.

"Much of the softness in the region's softness in the region's economy I believe is driven by the softness in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services," Waters says. "These are the high-paying jobs that the region has historically been competitive in."

He says the rest of the country is eating NOVA’s lunch.

"We have to start regaining some of our economic competitiveness in this Professional, Scientific and Technical compared with the U.S.," says Waters. "Because we've now been lagging the U.S. for three years, we've really got to get going on this because this is what the region does, and we've been being outperformed by the rest of the U.S. for about three years."

Virginia is often mentioned as a great place to do business, he says, but that masks the reality that northern Virginia is falling behind other major metro areas across the country.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.