As this data below shows, this time is different. I’ve left off the City of Richmond to make it more clear that even the typically stable suburbs are being hit like never before.

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&met=unemployment_rate&idim=state:ST510000&idim=county:PA510750:PA510700:PA510960&tdim=true

We’re at the point where we need to be looking for green shoots. But, there is zero growth and we are beginning to see cutbacks from medium and small firms in the area. Also left out of this analysis (yeah, I know, this is business news, but…) are the cutbacks in state and local government jobs, a major source of employment in the Capital Region.