Topics Related to Lead Feed

Economic growth in North Carolina has progressed at a steady pace since the worst of the Great Recession. However, several data points show that the state’s labor market is growing less dynamic, with fewer workers hopping from job to job and overall hiring and firing activity stuck at unusually low levels. The following article illustrates this troubling trend using data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and explains what implications it might have for the economic health of our state.

The Millennial generation (persons born 1980 or later) is within reach of surpassing the Boomer generation (those born from 1946 to 1964) as the largest segment of North Carolina’s adult population. As older generations retire from North Carolina’s labor force, this article asks whether younger cohorts will be able to take their place.

While the national labor force participation rate has been declining for the past decade, the participation rate of those aged 55 and older has been on the rise since the mid-1990s. In this post, we address some confusion surrounding declining national labor force participation rates and the role Boomers are playing in that trend, as well as the situation in North Carolina.

An oft-ignored side effect of an aging workforce is its impact on the average wage. Increasing numbers of workers in North Carolina are now in the prime of their careers and are being compensated accordingly, driving up earnings across the state. But what happens when these mature workers retire and are replaced by younger workers at the lower end of the pay scale?

The unemployment rate for states and local areas is a blurry snapshot when it is initially released. This picture becomes clearer over time as the rate is subsequently revised. The following article explains why these revisions, which can be quite large, are a natural consequence of how the unemployment rate is estimated.

Each month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia publishes a leading index, looking six months ahead, and a coincident index, tracking current conditions. We will explore where the leading index predicts the North Carolina economy will be in six months, what goes into creating these indices, and whether the leading index does a good job of predicting economic trends.

Third quarter GDP was announced yesterday, and the U.S. grew at an annualized rate of 3.5 percent. The increase was partially driven by spending on the military — a major sector in North Carolina.

Using the Federal Reserve data, we've compared North Carolina to other states in the Southeast. Our state has experienced the second highest growth since September 2013 and looks poised to continue the trend into 2015.

Several states — including North Carolina — have been cited as standouts for their achievements using data to support education and workforce development.

The number of jobseekers without work for 27 or more weeks has declined considerably from its historic peak in 2010. However, some evidence suggests that North Carolina’s long-term unemployed may continue to struggle several years after the Great Recession. This article describes what we know — and don’t know — about long-term unemployment in North Carolina