Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

Overall rank: 17

Virginia Beach is a resort town in the Hampton Roads area, which includes Norfolk Naval Base. Employment in the Virginia Beach metro peaked in the third quarter of 2007. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down just 0.8% from the peak in the third quarter of last year. Home prices grew 2.1% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 7.4%, up 3.2 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)

Job growth (since peak) rank: 16
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 6
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 36
Home price change (year over year) rank: 57