Blog Entry List

What happened in the North Carolina economy in 2016? How did the economy fare compared to the U.S. and previous years? What key trends are emerging since the Great Recession? A new LEAD report looks at several key economic indicators for the state, including population and labor force growth, unemployment and wage trends, industry and GDP changes, and projected employment.

North Carolina releases a list of Top 300 Private Employers, compiled annually, based off the first quarter employment size as reported by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wage (QCEW) program. The list breaks out employers by manufacturing and nonmanufacturing.

What happened to middle-wage jobs? This is a question that can be seen on dozens of news article headlines across the country. Although the economy is growing, the types of occupations that have returned since the recession have been uneven. A troubling aspect of employment growth over the past decade has been the decline of middle-wage jobs combined with the explosion of low-wage professions.

The Sandhills Prosperity Zone has undergone a transformation in its economy since the turn of the century—while its population has grown (mainly through natural increase rather than in-migration), the number of jobs has actually fallen by 1.7 percent. At the same time, the industry mix of the region has shifted in ways typical of other rural regions of the state—with a decline in manufacturing and a shift to jobs in health care, retail, and accommodation and food service. While manufacturing is still important to the region, the mix of types of manufacturing is different. While this shift from goods-producing to service-producing has occurred throughout the state, however the Sandhills region has not gained enough jobs to grow their economy to the same extent as the state.

Decline in the labor force participation is an often-discussed topic of the recent Great Recession and its recovery. Numerous demographic factors have played a role in the decline, including the growing number of older Americans and their decreasing labor force participation rates. However, there has been a real effect from the decline of youth employment – primarily youth seeking summer work. This article discusses youth summer employment in North Carolina, and its changes over the past two decades.

Want to try to see into the future? LEAD recently completed long term regional industry and occupation projections at both the state and local levels.

What are the jobs of future and where will they be?  What are some of the better career options?  LEAD recently released new long term regional projections and the 2017 Star Jobs Lists at both the statewide and regional levels.

Moving from one state to another within the United States has decline over the past 20 years, and this may have implications for the North Carolina economy and population.

Women's History Month provides an opportunity to explore U.S. and North Carolina changes in "women's work."

This is part one of The State of NC Broadband Series, which addresses broadband adoption rates in general.  The Southeast is not fairing as well as other parts of the United States, and North Carolina's counties have varying degrees of broadband adoption. 

Newly-released data revisions show that North Carolina’s unemployment rate and labor force participation rate are trending upward as we head into 2017.  This article explains what labor market watchers can learn from these new data and provides some helpful tips for how to avoid getting caught off-guard by future data revisions.

In honor of African-American History Month, we wanted to provide the top 5 interesting facts based on current and historical statistics for African-Americans and African-American workers in North Carolina.

North Carolina’s economy ranks as the 10th largest in the county at just under $439 million in 2015. The state seems poised to continue growing, as its growth currently outpaces the national average. This LEAD Feed article explores what GDP measures, why it is important, and examines the state’s GDP from several angles.

Which of North Carolina’s regions offer the best prospects for jobseekers?  This article assesses the supply and demand for labor within each of North Carolina’s eight “Prosperity Zone” regions.  

The General Assembly recently authorized a new form of crowdfunding in North Carolina, which is intended to help businesses and entrepreneurs better access capital.  In this post, we explain what crowdfunding is and why it matters to our state’s businesses (and investors).