The Lead Feed

As we conclude our three-part series on North Carolina’s 2032 employment projections, we shift our focus to the future of talent demands. After examining overall employment trends and industry outlooks in the previous articles, we now dive into to occupational projections, providing valuable insights into job prospects and educational requirements.

Following our earlier blog highlighting the trends and findings of the North Carolina’s long-term employment projections, we now delve into a detailed analysis of employment projections across specific industry in the state.

In this study, we use administrative data from the North Carolina Common Follow-up System (CFS) to evaluate the impact of CTE on students with disabilities, finding that CTE “concentrators”—students who earned multiple credits in a CTE career pathway— experienced improved labor market and educational outcomes in subsequent years, including higher employment rates, higher wage earnings, and higher postsecondary enrollment rates.

The Labor & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) has recently unveiled North Carolina’s long-term employment projections through 2032. The projections offer in-depth insight into both industry and occupational trends, with the full data available on our web-site. This blog is part of the projections series highlighting key statewide trends and findings. Additionally, projections for the sub-state areas will be released at a later time.

LEAD has surveyed businesses across North Carolina every two years since 2014 on behalf of the state’s NCWorks Commission, with a particular emphasis on hiring challenges, recruitment and retention, and other business needs. Although fewer businesses reported hiring difficulties than in the previous survey, many employers still struggle with finding the talent they need.

North Carolina has successfully positioned itself as a global leader in manufacturing. But as revealed in a new report from the NC Department of Commerce and NC State’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Best Practices for Growing Manufacturing in North Carolina, maintaining that edge in the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not without its challenges. Implementing cutting-edge "Industry 4.0" technologies like robotics, the internet of things (IoT), and data analytics won't be easy for employers.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we show how our economy is running on “two tracks”, with many households and businesses experiencing the benefits of an expanding economy while others are coming under increasing pressure from high prices, high interest rates, and a weakening labor market.

The Labor & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) of the NC Department of Commerce and our data user partners are excited to participate in the LMI Data User Insights Academy, supported by the U.S. Department of Labor. Through this program, we aim to improve the understanding and utilization of labor market information (LMI) to support data-driven insights and decisions across the state.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we dig into some fresh economic data releases to highlight three labor market trends: a declining rate of labor turnover; an elevated rate of working from home; and a record-high rate of job satisfaction (although with signs of trouble emerging).

Explore our findings on the importance of North Carolina's Portrait of a Graduate (POG) skills across education levels and career clusters. Learn how these durable skills, such as communication and adaptability, are valued in today’s workforce and discover their impact on wages and growth opportunities.

A new report from the NC Department of Commerce and NC State’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Best Practices for Growing Manufacturing in North Carolina, lays out a critical vision for North Carolina's manufacturing sector to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution driven by technologies like robotics, AI and data analytics. Supporting this technological transformation should be an economic imperative.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we analyze trends in North Carolina’s labor force participation rate. Labor force participation has been trending downward in North Carolina and nationwide for decades, driven primarily by shifting demographics. While the participation rate for younger workers in North Carolina has increased in recent years, the overall statewide labor force participation rate is likely to continue declining because our population is getting older, and older people are more likely to be retired.

This article examines industry differences in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption rates, specific applications, and expectations for employment changes across the nation. By understanding these trends, we aim to extrapolate insights relevant to North Carolina.

In January, we published an article examining the employment outcomes of older jobseekers. In this article, we use data from the North Carolina Common Follow-up System (CFS) to learn more about the conditions older workers experience after they lose their job, including their wage earnings and their sector of employment following layoff.

Explore the potential impact of artificial intelligence on North Carolina's business practices through our analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. This blog examines AI adoption rates, applications, and employment trends, offering insights into AI's potential effects on industry and workforce needs.