The Lead Feed

The early 21st century has seen increases in the percentage of employed North Carolinians whose working hours vary from week to week. This article digs a little deeper to find out who these workers are and discusses the potential implications for North Carolina’s labor market

We use economic statistics every day in order to gauge the state of the marketplace. However, the reality depicted by many of these data points is obscured by the uncertainty inherent in data estimation. This article focuses on sources of error in the unemployment rate and explains how readers should interpret these data.

The percentage of young North Carolinians at work or seeking employment has declined substantially over the past 13 years. This article reveals that most of this decline is in fact attributable to higher levels of school enrollment. How should this affect our interpretation of North Carolina's unemployment rate? And what might this mean for the earnings prospects of the state's youngest workers?

North Carolina is a major contributor to the traditional foods that you'll most likely enjoy at your Thanksgiving Day meal.

How can individuals tell for themselves if North Carolina is producing an adequate number of new jobs? The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta provides an excellent web-based tool that allows us to estimate how much job growth, over how many months, is needed in North Carolina in order to bring our unemployment rate down to pre-Recession levels. However, these estimates can vary depending on the assumptions that we plug into the application.

The recent growth of North Carolina manufacturing production has resulted in The Tar Heel State having the fourth largest manufacturing economy in the U.S.

A recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the number of U.S. job openings near a 13-year high. This good news is offset by continued evidence of a “mismatch” between unemployed job seekers and available jobs at the national level. In this post, I explain how the relationship between unemployment and job vacancy rates (the “Beveridge curve”) can help us determine whether a mismatch is also evident in North Carolina’s labor market.

The central counties of the Raleigh and Charlotte metro areas (Wake and Mecklenburg) now account for 30 percent of all workers employed in North Carolina, up from 22 percent two decades ago. This article shows how shifts in the regional distribution of employment have helped bolster overall wages in North Carolina and illustrate the changing economy of the state

Did you know that North Carolina has the eighth largest veteran population in the country? In honor of Veteran's Day, here are some interesting facts that you may not know about North Carolina's veterans.

The number of jobseekers without work for 27 or more weeks has declined considerably from its historic peak in 2010. However, some evidence suggests that North Carolina’s long-term unemployed may continue to struggle several years after the Great Recession. This article describes what we know — and don’t know — about long-term unemployment in North Carolina

Several states — including North Carolina — have been cited as standouts for their achievements using data to support education and workforce development.

Using the Federal Reserve data, we've compared North Carolina to other states in the Southeast. Our state has experienced the second highest growth since September 2013 and looks poised to continue the trend into 2015.

Third quarter GDP was announced yesterday, and the U.S. grew at an annualized rate of 3.5 percent. The increase was partially driven by spending on the military — a major sector in North Carolina.

Each month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia publishes a leading index, looking six months ahead, and a coincident index, tracking current conditions. We will explore where the leading index predicts the North Carolina economy will be in six months, what goes into creating these indices, and whether the leading index does a good job of predicting economic trends.