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Blog Entry List
To better understand the local economic performance in North Carolina, and how that performance has changed over time, LEAD developed an index to measure the economic outcomes across the 100 counties.
How is my county doing economically? And are we getting better? These are two common questions we receive about North Carolina’s economy. The answers are harder to nail down than they should be. Single indicators like unemployment or income tell only part of the story. National datasets often lack county-level detail. Without consistent benchmarks, it's difficult to know whether local conditions reflect broader trends or something unique to the community.
In celebration of CTE Month, we’re exploring how North Carolina’s CTE concentrators (students who earned two or more technical credits in a Career Cluster Pathway) are doing in the workforce a decade after high school—and how those outcomes differ by career cluster. Using NC TOWER data from the Common Follow-up System, we tracked 32,000 graduates from the Class of 2014 and examined their employment rates and wage earnings in 2024.
When we think about economic booms, we picture prosperity: jobs everywhere, wages climbing, and opportunity knocking. But here’s the twist - those same booms might quietly discourage education. Why? Because when the job market is sizzling, the opportunity cost of staying in school skyrockets. Why sit in a classroom when you can earn a paycheck right now?
Graduating college is a milestone worth celebrating, but the economy might have its own plans for your career. The timing of your entry into the workforce can dramatically shape your early career trajectory, and as history shows, graduating during a recession can leave more than just a temporary dent in your wallet.
Lack of access to affordable, high-quality child care is a barrier to labor force participation for working parents in North Carolina and affects our state’s economy. In 2024, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the NC Chamber Foundation, and NC Child released Untapped Potential in NC, a statewide study that estimated that child care-related work disruptions cost North Carolina’s economy $5.65 billion annually, driven by $4.29 billion in employer costs and $1.36 billion in lost tax revenues.
Nursing graduates enter the workforce with specialized, job-ready skills that are in high demand, positioning them for early career success. Drawing on the latest NC TOWER data, we take a closer look at what happens after graduation for nursing students – where they land their first jobs, average starting salaries, and how their career paths begin to take shape in the years that follow.
In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we examine labor market data released during and after the federal government shutdown. Despite a partial data blackout, these indicators demonstrate that North Carolina’s labor market has continued to progress along the same path it has in recent years. Although layoffs remain relatively uncommon, a slowdown in hiring has made it increasingly difficult to find a new job. As we enter 2026, we find ourselves staring down the fifth year of a prolonged labor market slowdown.
In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we take stock of the economic recovery in Western North Carolina following the impact of Hurricane Helene. The region’s economic recovery began in earnest in November 2024 and has shown signs of progress with each passing month. However, as more data come in, we are learning that the economic impact of Helene was larger than initially estimated, and so far, by several measures, counties affected by the storm have experienced an incomplete economic recovery.
So, you have spent four years debating supply and demand curves, plotting the Phillips curve, and maybe even survived a game theory final or two, and now you’re wondering: what’s next? If you’re an Economics graduate in North Carolina, the latest NC TOWER data sheds light on what that next step might look like.
For years, women have been outpacing men in earning college degrees across every level of higher education. But as we turn the page into the 2020’s, the dynamics are showing signs of shifting. The latest data from North Carolina’s public post-secondary schools paints a complex picture still favoring women, but with some nuances that suggest the future may not be as linear as the past.
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene carved a devastating path across the Southeastern United States, leaving an indelible mark on Western North Carolina's economic landscape. The storm caused estimated damage within North Carolina reaching up to $59.6 billion, establishing it as one of the costliest hurricanes in recent history. With the release of Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data for the second quarter following the storm, we now have a clearer picture of how industry employment has been affected across the hardest-hit areas.
College majors aren't just academic choices as they often set the stage for lifelong income differences. By following traditional gender paths into fields like education or engineering, students may unknowingly reinforce the gender pay gap before their careers even begin.
Every June, thousands of North Carolina high schoolers toss their graduation caps into the sky and step into the unknown. But where do they actually land? We dug into the data of more than 950,000 students who graduated from NC public schools between 2014 and 2023 to find out. Thanks to the NC TOWER which tracks employment and higher education outcomes, we can follow the journeys of about 92% of these grads through jobs and colleges both in and out of state.
Our recent The LEAD Feed article introduced the issue and examined the factors contributing to a more complex labor market for recent graduates compared to previous years. Using data from NC TOWER, the article showed that the class of 2023 experienced a somewhat unexpected decline in first-year post-college wages.