The Lead Feed

Find out which workers by race and ethnicity are overrepresented in automation exposed industries.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we examine the employment data revisions just released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. These revisions change what we thought we knew about conditions in certain sectors of the economy. Overall, however, the revised data continue to demonstrate that, although our economy is slowing, it’s still growing.

Data shows workers with young kids in North Carolina have lower labor force participation rates. High prices, too few available spots at child care facilities, and more are all contributing factors, and it takes a toll on our economy.

The aging of North Carolina’s workforce coupled with slowing population growth speaks to the ever-increasing role that immigration will play in alleviating labor shortages in the years to come. Yet despite its economic importance, international migration remains lower than levels seen in past decades, and COVID-19 disruptions have further hampered immigration in recent years. In this article, we dive deeper into the impact that immigration has on the state’s workforce.

In a previous blog, QWI data revealed several industries that have wage growth for Black workers consistently exceeding that of White workers, higher than average wages, and projected employment growth faster than the state. This blog will share further insights about one of those industries in particular, Chemical Manufacturing.

Black workers’ earnings continue to lag behind white workers, but are there industries where the gap is closing? This blog uses Quarterly Workforce Indicator data from the US Census Bureau to highlight some industries where this gap is changing.

North Carolina posted strong economic numbers in 2022. Here are five trends LEAD is watching in 2023.

Recent advancements in AI have many people wondering how it might impact the future of work and North Carolina’s labor market. LEAD examines these questions and recent AI progress in this article.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we provide an update on the financial health of consumers. Rising prices are eating away at the savings households built up during the COVID-19 pandemic, but for now, many consumers still have money to spare, which has important implications for the economy in the year to come.

In December, not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates decreased in 96 of North Carolina's 100 counties.

North Carolina's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged from November’s revised rate of 3.9 percent.

What are the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic and recession? The release of Q2 2022 QCEW data allows us to look at how industry employment has changed two years after the beginning of the pandemic.

For high school graduates, the past few years have been a mix of disruption and uncertainty, calling into question the potential impacts on these graduates’ decisions to pursue employment or higher education. In this article, we use data from the North Carolina Common Follow-up System (CFS) to explore prevalent post-graduation pathways for recent public high school graduates throughout the COVID era. We find that although immediate college-going rates have declined for recent graduates, employment rates have risen due to tight labor market conditions, increasing youth connection in the process.

Welcome to the January 2023 edition of NC Economy Watch: an update on what’s happening in the North Carolina economy and what it means for you, brought to you by the Labor & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) of the NC Department of Commerce. In this edition, we provide an update on hiring challenges in our state. The labor market has eased slightly in recent months, but hiring conditions remain historically tight, and demographic trends suggest labor shortages may become a routine feature of life during future periods of economic growth.

In November, not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates decreased in 92 of North Carolina's 100 counties.