Michael O'Connor

Federal workers affected by shutdown, share your story We want to hear from federal workers about how the shutdown is affecting them. Share your story using this form.

We want to hear from federal workers living in Virginia about how the shutdown is affecting them. Share your story using this form: vadogwood.com/2025/10/03/f...

Virginia Dems rush to support federal workers during government shutdown Virginia’s hundreds of thousands of federal employees entered their second day of the government shutdown on Thursday as Republicans in Washington hold firm on their refusal to pass a spending bill th...

Here's my look at the early days of the government shutdown as seen from my desk in #Virginia: vadogwood.com/2025/10/02/v...

Federal workers, I want to hear from you about how the shutdown is impacting you!

I know there are people understandably afraid to put their names out there, so anonymity is an option.

DM me here, or try my email: michaeloconnor@couriernewsroom.com

#virginia

For my latest newsletter, I offer up a little hope, report on the petition Virginia Republicans won't sign in support of federal workers' union rights, and talk about the marketing guy who got laid off to become a Blacksburg mail carrier.

Read it here: my.sailthru.com/view?blast_i...

Retired Virginia home care worker Lauralyn Clark at a June demonstration in Richmond.

In my latest newsletter:

🏛️ Dems fighting to protect ACA tax credits

🩹 Why a home care worker supports Spanberger

🫥 And Trump's latest attempt to whitewash history

(Photo credit: Bert Shepherd)

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

n the latest Virginia Capital:

🏛️ What a government shutdown could mean for Virginia

✍️ The fight to restore union rights to over a million federal workers

👺 And a song from Demons, a hardcore rock band in Hampton Roads

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

Virginia’s November Election Could Decide the Fate of our Democracy | First Draft with Susan Demas & Michael O'Connor The state has a GOP governor. But an anti-Trump backlash could boost Democrats in the upcoming statewide election.

This was a lot of fun. Happy first day of early voting everyone www.lincolnsquare.media/p/virginias-...

In the latest Virginia Capital:

✊ A milestone for Virginia labor in Fairfax County

🟥 My take on Virginia's new Red Scare after Kirk's killing

🎹 And the 60s protest song that's helping me process politics in 2025

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

@jamellebouie.net loving your piece in today’s NYT but you gotta start defining these latin terms in the text so i’m not reaching for my phone to look them up!

In the latest Virginia Capital:

💸 Trump's funding cuts' impact on Virginia's state budget

⚠️ US inflation is rising and unemployment filings are growing

✒️ A prestigious nomination for a Virginia poet

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

In the latest Virginia Capital:

🤐 Virginia Republicans have nothing to say about rural clinics closing

📉 How a worsening US jobs market is weighing on Va. politics

☕️ And instant coffee is good, actually.

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

In the latest Virginia Capital:

🥊 the "gut punch" to federal workers Earle-Sears wants to ignore

📊 a preview of tomorrow's jobs report

🎥 and a legendary filmmaker is heading to Mount Vernon

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

(AP Photo/John McDonnell)

In the latest Virginia Capital I've got:

- my coverage of the Richmond labor day rally

- a look at how labor rights are coming up on the campaign trail

- and I spoke with the founders of new Virginia hip-hop nonprofit

Read it here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

In the latest Virginia Capital I've got:

- my coverage of the Richmond labor day rally

- a look at how labor rights are coming up on the campaign trail

- and I spoke with the founders of new Virginia hip-hop nonprofit

🔗 t.co/OQ7NXZt6lH

Virginia Capital Virginia economic news for the rest of us.

And subscribe to my newsletter here: vadogwood.com/va-capital-n...

You can read more of my coverage here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

Raising the min. wage, strengthening collective bargaining rights, and better access to childcare would help every day people weather the storm

“The status quo is not good enough for a lot of Virginia families,” Goren said. “There’s a lot of folks struggling to make ends meet.”

Obviously, federal policies (DOGE, tariffs) and how they play out are big factors in which direction Virginia's economy goes.

By the same token, Levin Goren of ‪@tcifiscal.bsky.social‬,points out that policy changes could help mitigate economic woes on the horizon

The center predicts that Virginia’s July unemployment rate of 3.6% will rise to 4.2% in 2025 and up to 4.6% in 2026.

So, not pandemic levels, which peaked at 11.9% in April 2020, but still not good. Pre-pandemic unemployment in Va. was closer to 3%.

UVA's Weldon Cooper Center published a gloomy forecast for Virginia's workers last week.

But, as one source reminded me, there are policies that could help prevent the economic pain some are expecting. 🧵

Sorry to hear that, and hoping the best for them soon. Are they based in Virginia?

Two of my son’s computer programmer friends are still jobless. Not recent grads. One quit from his job at a defense manufacturer because he could no longer look away from what their products were being used for. He’s been jobless for 2+ yrs. His fiancé has applied for 500+ jobs-out of work 9 months.

Virginia Capital Virginia economic news for the rest of us.

And subscribe to my newsletter here: vadogwood.com/va-capital-n...

You can read more of my coverage here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...

That's changed as the tech industry has seen layoffs in recent years.

Computer science majors (6.1%) had a higher unemployment rate than English majors (4.9%) , according to a study of 2023 data by the NY Fed. t.co/PiY2FfWoCk

As he told me: "I was always told, ‘If you stuck with it and you graduated, then you would always have a guaranteed job,' or you’d have a pretty good chance of landing a good job."

I caught up with two recent college grads who have sent out more than a hundred applications between the two of them to no avail.

The kicker: one of them is a computer science major, which -- at least in my day -- has largely been seen as one of the best majors to have.

I've been writing about the labor market and speaking to policy analysts, but I hadn't spoken to as many actual job seekers.

So, I decided to go check out this recent job fair in Manassas to try to talk to people 🧵

Virginia Capital Virginia economic news for the rest of us.

And subscribe here: vadogwood.com/va-capital-n...

You can read more of my coverage in my newsletter here: link.vadogwood.com/view/660c23f...