Topics Related to Labor Market

In 2023 and 2024, an increase in immigration contributed to population, labor force, and employment growth nationwide and in North Carolina, but new data show that immigration slowed in 2025. This article examines how these changes have shaped the state’s labor market in recent years and what they may mean for North Carolina in the years ahead.

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.