For the past several years, our NC Economy Watch series has covered the gradual but persistent labor market slowdown that has made life increasingly difficult for jobseekers across North Carolina and nationwide. This slowdown has hampered efforts to extend job opportunities to populations on the margins of the labor force, including individuals who face barriers to gainful employment after exiting prison.
This article uses recently updated data from the North Carolina Reentry Outcome Reporting System (NC-RORS) to show how the current labor market situation has impacted the employment outcomes of formerly incarcerated people in our state. These data are based on mandatory unemployment insurance (UI) tax reports from North Carolina businesses and include all formal, UI-covered employment in North Carolina.
The share of individuals finding employment within a year after exiting prison trended upward as the labor market tightened throughout the 2010s, reaching a high of 47% during the height of COVID-era labor shortages in 2021 [Figure 1]. Since then, post-prison employment outcomes have deteriorated notably; only 37% of individuals exiting prison in 2024 found employment within a year after their release date, the lowest since 2013.
Figure 1
These post-prison employment outcomes mirror trends in the broader labor market. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the overall hiring rate in North Carolina (calculated as the number of hires divided by total nonfarm employment) declined to 3.7% in 2024, the lowest since 2011 [Figure 2]. Job-finding conditions continued to worsen in 2025, with our state’s hiring rate declining even further to 3.4%.
Figure 2
Formerly incarcerated jobseekers confront challenges even during the best of times, when job openings are difficult to fill and employers are more willing to hire applicants with criminal records. Now that job growth is slowing and there are more applicants available for the job openings that remain, justice-involved individuals might find it even more difficult to secure employment.
There are actions that correctional professionals can take to help improve post-prison outcomes. LEAD’s research has found that work release programs offered during incarceration can lead to significant employment gains after individuals exit prison, which is one reason why North Carolina’s Reentry 2030 Strategic Plan calls for participation in work release to expand 50% by 2030.
Despite our best-laid plans, the labor market gets a say as well. More effective reentry programming can help limit the damage resulting from a weak labor market, but it can’t create employment opportunities without the active participation of employers. Even as the reentry community redoubles their efforts to ease the burdens on exiting prisoners, slowing job growth will make it all the more difficult to move the needle on post-prison employment outcomes. While reentry advocates may need to adjust their expectations in light of current economic realities, formerly incarcerated jobseekers also deserve patience, compassion, and understanding as they reenter society amid the most challenging labor market in years.