Gallup: West Virginians Up on Job Creation

Gallup continues to mine the extensive polling it conducted throughout 2009. Several posts this morning will explore the raft of interesting results from West Virginians surveyed.

Job Creation. West Virginia ranks 3rd overall in Gallup's "Job Creation Index," and attributes the results to its energy (coal, mostly) sector.

"Gallup asks those who are employed whether their companies are hiring workers and expanding the size of their labor forces, not changing the size of their workforces, or laying off workers and reducing the number of employees they have," the survey explains. "The Job Creation Index reports the net difference between the percentage reporting an expansion and the percentage reporting a reduction in their workforces."

But the poll also notes a 16-point deterioration when compared to 2008's index.

The survey has a 95% confidence level, with the percentage point margin of error ranging among states between +/- 1 and +/- 9.