South By North Strategies, Ltd.

SBN In The News

South by North Strategies’ analyses of  the North Carolina economy have appeared in numerous recent media stories.

• The Asheville Citizen-Times: “Asheville are gas prices climb”
• The News & Record: “Triad has work to do to increase job stability”
• Charlotte Business Journal: “Charlotte sees big shift on NC incentives”
• NC Independent News: “North Carolina unemployment rate edges up”
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “State jobless rate rise to five-month high”
• The News & Observer: “Unemployment up despite jobs”
• Charlotte Observer: “Feeble job growth pushes up NC unemployment rate”
• The Durham Herald-Sun: “Unemployment up, jobs slow”
  
• The Asheville Citizen-Times: “NC’s December jobless rate edged up”
• Fort Mill Times: “NC’s December jobless rate edged up to 9.8 percent”
• MSN Money: “NC’s December jobless rate edged up”
• Statesville Record & Landmark: “NC’s quarterly jobs report mixed”
• Yes Weekly: “North Carolina’s lost year”

SBN In The News

South by North Strategies’ analyses of  the North Carolina economy have been featured in several recent media stories.

• The Asheville Citizen-Times: “Serious high-cost issues loom in 2011 for Asheville”
• The Durham Herald-Sun: “2010 jobs growth maybe ‘a wash’ “
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “Triad jobless rate rises to 10.2 percent”
• The Durham Herald-Sun: “Jobless rate not the whole story”
• The News & Observer: “Triangle jobless rate inches up”
• N.C.  Independent: “NC faces prospect of many left permanently unemployed”
• Richmond County Daily Journal: “Holidays don’t help unemployment rate”

North Carolina’s Labor Market: 2010 Review

North Carolina’s labor market ended 2010 little changed from the start of the year. Between December 2009 and November 2010, the most recent month for which data are available, payroll employment in North Carolina rose by just 1,400 positions (+0.04 percent). While the number of unemployed Tar Heels and the the statewide unemployment rate fell during the year, much of the decline was due to a troubling contraction in the size of the state’s labor force. And, little evidence suggests that a robust jobs recovery will take hold in early 2011.

One Year, Two Job Markets
North Carolina’s labor market underwent two distinct phases in 2010 (figure, below). The first half of the year was a time of weak but positive growth. Between January and June, net job growth averaged 6,500 positions per month. Total employment increased at a rate of 0.2 percent per month, while the number of unemployed individuals fell at a monthly rate of 1.5 percent. The labor force also grew at a monthly rate of 0.03 percent. The statewide unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 10 percent from 11.1 percent.

Much of that progress was the by-product of public policy supports provided by the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and related initiatives like the homebuyer tax credit and temporary hiring for the 2010 Census. As those supports faded away during the second half of 2010, North Carolina’s labor market sputtered.

Between July and November, net job loss in the state averaged 7,500 positions per month. Total employment fell at a rate of 0.2 percent per month, while the number of unemployed individuals fell at a monthly pace of 0.4 percent. Yet the labor force also contracted at a a monthly rate of 0.2 percent. The statewide unemployment rate, meanwhile, stagnated at a level fluctuating between 9.6 and 9.8 percent.
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South by North Strategies in The News

South by North Strategies’ recent analyses of  North Carolina’s economy have been featured in several media outlets.

• The Charlotte Observer: “More NC jobs likely amid big challenges”
• The News & Observer: “Outlook for recovery in 2011”
• The Charlotte Observer: “Much depends on where you reside”
• The News & Observer: “Outlook better for N.C. jobs“

South by North Strategies In The News

South by North Strategies’ recent analyses of  economic issues have been  featured in several media outlets.

• The Charlotte Observer: “NC job loss uptick first since February”
• The News & Observer: “NC job loss is nation’s highest”
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “N.C.’s jobless rate up in Nov.”
• NC Independent News: “Corporations see brighter economy”
• The High Point Enterprise: “Locals mull loss of jobless benefits”
• Triangle Business Journal: “Across N.C., workers drop out of labor force”