Volkswagen employees and the company have still not agreed on a contract after more than a year and a half of negotiation. The employees’ union has started talking about and training for a strike if their demands aren’t met. Local 3 News has a story about how a strike might affect the Chattanooga economy in…
9/30/25: UAW Prepares for Possible Strike in Chattanooga
News Channel 9 had a story about how the UAW appears to be getting close to calling a strike against Volkswagen given the stalemate in negotiations. Howard Wall, director of UTC’s regional economic research, says…“Strikes are pretty ugly, and if it lasts for any amount of time, it’s not just Volkswagen that’ll be affected in…
9/26/25: Local Impact of a Potential Government Shutdown
Local 3 News had a story about the local impact of a potential shutdown of the Federal government on October 1. They interviewed CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall: “Government shutdown occurs because there’s a debt limit and the federal government can only borrow up to come amount. And they’re borrowing all the time,…
9/17/25: Talking Economics on ‘Jed & JR Mornings’
CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall talked about the local economy in the wake of recent workforce reductions in Chattanooga at VW, Wacker, Miller Industries, TVA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and others. Topics included the national manufacturing slowdown and what it means locally, the effects of tariffs, and whether wages in Tennessee have been…
9/13/25: Hamilton County Employers Cutting Staff as Nationwide Signs Point to ‘Economic Cooling’
CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall was featured in a story about the signs of a cooling local labor market: Across the United States, manufacturing has slowed for the past two years, Wall said, and that has probably been a bit more pronounced locally. “It’s been a negative for a full year for Chattanooga,”…