Understanding West Virginia’s Demographic Shifts

Looking Ahead: Sustainable Solutions for Demographic Challenges

The Wall Street Journal reports that West Virginia shares a demographic dilemma afflicting many parts of the country: an aging population and unfilled jobs. Decades of migration out of Appalachia have left West Virginia older, less educated and less able to work than other parts of the United States. Its labor-force participation rate—the share of the 16-and-older population either working or looking for work—was 55.2% in March, the second lowest in the country. While some other states have sought immigrants to shore up their workforces, while West Virginia represents one extreme in its labor needs

Demographic Shifts

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