Opinion
Pay for jobs, not long searches
NC ought to consider replicating Idaho’s approach. By changing when benefits are paid, it reduces work disincentives without inviting accusations of stinginess.
Opinion
Carolina economy adding few jobs
Whatever the explanation, our present reality is a growing NC economy with surprisingly anemic rate of net new jobs. Policymakers, please take note.
Opinion
Why NC is outperforming the nation’s soft landing
While the country decelerates, North Carolina is holding its footing. That contrast is not accidental.
Opinion
NC’s economic engine is humming despite ‘vibecession’
It is time to move past the noise and get back to business. The math says we’re going to be just fine.
News
Despite labor shortage, NC college graduates face employment headwinds
Graduates across majors as diverse as business, engineering, and the social sciences have seen wage cuts. Post-graduation earnings for computer and information science majors dipped the most, by 22%, while the average decrease among all subject areas was 4%.
Opinion
Carolina economy solid, not spectacular
How has North Carolina’s economy been performing lately? Let’s focus on four standard measures: unemployment, jobs, incomes, and gross domestic product. Last week, the US Census Bureau released its latest jobs report. It’s based on two surveys. The household survey polls hundreds of North Carolinians and generates, among other statistics, the unemployment rate. The establishment...
Opinion
Economic data paint a cloudy picture
How healthy is our economy? If you’ve just returned from the grocery store or gas station, you may be inclined to rate it poorly. Although prices aren’t rising as fast as before, that phenomenon is properly called disinflation. It isn’t the same thing as deflation. The cost of living remains much higher than it was...
News
NC unemployment rate hits record low. These 5 counties have the highest rates:
According to the latest report from the N.C. Department of Commerce, North Carolina has a 3.3% unemployment rate, the lowest in decades.
Opinion
Labor participation is falling again
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just released its latest jobs report for North Carolina and the rest of the country. As usual, the report contained a mixture of good news and bad. First the good. Our headline unemployment rate of 3.8% isn’t just low. It’s much lower than our 5.3% average rate over the...
Opinion
Our workforce is still too small
Most economic forecasters expect us to enter a recession sometime in 2023. I sure hope they’re wrong. Even a mild recession would throw tens of thousands of North Carolinians out of work. And the ranks of displaced workers would rise into the hundreds of thousands if we suffered a downturn as serious as the Great...
News
Late COVID unemployment checks tangled in red tape, according to new state audit
Nearly half a billion dollars in first-time unemployment benefits in North Carolina were not paid out in a timely manner during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to an audit released from State Auditor Beth Wood’s office on Monday. The Division of Employment Security didn’t issue $438 million of first unemployment benefit payments during...
News
Governor vetoes ‘Putting N.C. Back to Work Act’
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Friday that would have ended $300 in extra weekly federal unemployment benefits in North Carolina. The bill also would have tightened job search requirements to continue collecting unemployment. North Carolina would have joined 25 other states in cutting off the federal unemployment supplement. Other states have cited labor shortages...
