Press Releases

The Rural Transformation Grant Fund, a new source of support for rural economic development in North Carolina, is now accepting applications from local governments seeking to overcome challenges that limit their economic competitiveness.  The North Carolina Department of Commerce and its Rural Economic Development Division will administer the $48 million grant fund.

Service Offsite Solutions (SOS), a supplier of offsite homebuilding solutions, will create 235 new jobs in a Lee County expansion, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will invest $11.8 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Sanford. “This expansion is another great economic development win for North Carolina,” said Governor Cooper. “Companies know our capable workforce, central location, and great quality of life are benefits to helping the homebuilding industry meet the high demand in North Carolina.”

A new list of workforce credentials valued by industry and endorsed by a high-level state working group has been published on North Carolina’s career information portal, NCcareers.org. The centralized list will help both students and employees identify the higher priority credentials that employers use to screen workers for in-demand, high-wage careers.

Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) increased in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties in January. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate at 8.1 percent while Orange County had the lowest at 2.6 percent. All fifteen of the state’s metro areas experienced rate increases. Among the metro areas, Rocky Mount had the highest rate at 6.0 percent while Durham-Chapel Hill had the lowest at 3.0 percent. The January not seasonally adjusted statewide rate was 3.8 percent.

North Carolina’s economy fully returned to the employment level it enjoyed before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into an economic recession, state economists said Monday. The state’s economy recovered to pre-pandemic employment levels in July of 2021 and the GDP even earlier, and the state’s economy continues to grow despite concerns of inflation and high gas prices.

North Carolina has received a $4 million federal workforce grant to help workers who lost their jobs due to the tragic December 2021 fire at the QVC distribution facility in Rocky Mount, Governor Roy Cooper has announced. “This new grant will help hundreds of former QVC workers get back on their feet,” Governor Cooper said. “While we’ve already helped many impacted employees get new jobs, many others still need the training and services this new grant provides to help them with new careers.”

The state’s seasonally adjusted January 2022 unemployment rate was 3.9 percent, decreasing 0.2 of a percentage point from December’s revised rate. The national rate increased 0.1 of a percentage point to 4.0 percent. North Carolina’s unemployment rate decreased 1.6 percentage points from a year ago. The number of people employed increased 25,124 over the month to 4,809,793 and increased 179,320 over the year. The number of people unemployed decreased 9,594 over the month to 197,469 and decreased 70,319 over the year.

Thirty-three North Carolina Main Street Champions will be recognized for their commitment to downtown revitalization and strong communities in 2021 during a virtual Recognition Ceremony on today at 9:00 a.m. Including this year’s group of honorees, 837 Main Street Champions have been recognized by the N.C. Department of Commerce since 2000.

Eight communities will receive awards for excellence in downtown revitalization during the North Carolina Main Street Awards Ceremony this evening. Secretary of Commerce Machelle Sanders, Assistant Secretary of Rural Development Kenny Flowers, and Director of the North Carolina Main Street and Rural Planning Center Liz Parham, will present the awards virtually in categories that include economic vitality, design, promotion, and organization.

North Carolina was awarded $6.4 million to establish a new tourism-focused economic recovery initiative. The new program, Supporting and Strengthening Resiliency in North Carolina’s Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors Initiative, will help develop and implement economic-building strategies for the recovery of North Carolina’s travel and tourism industries that suffered economic losses due to the pandemic.