Legislators have been told that West Virginia’s economic recovery has been strong. The inference is that normality is around the corner and almost back. The serious question is whether “Back to Normal” is adequate.
There are several matters of serious concern. First, there is the workforce participation rate which economist John Deskins at West Virginia University said the state ranked last nationally in 2020 at 55 percent. Few would argue that this has changed significantly. Basically, the lower unemployment rate has become extremely misleading since a huge number of West Virginians are not employable for a variety of reasons, a main one being the high rate of substance abuse. Reviews of county judge dockets reveal that caseloads are jammed with…
