August Economic Numbers Highlight Persistent Jobs Challenge

RALEIGH (October 28, 2015) — At a time when local economies across North Carolina continue to experience the realities of an uneven recovery that has yet to return to pre-recession conditions, Governor McCrory will likely sign a bill today that will further negatively impact our state’s workers and families.

The expected signing of HB 318 means that the time limit on food assistance will go into effect in the 77 counties that qualify for a waiver due to weak labor market conditions. This could result in up to 105,000 childless North Carolinians losing food assistance, driving up demand at local pantries, and holding back consumer spending in local groceries.

The latest labor market data show just how damaging the timing of HB 318 could be. All but one metropolitan area and the overwhelming majority of North Carolina’s 100 counties still have more people looking for work than before the economic collapse in 2007. This trend highlights the persistent jobs challenge North Carolina faces – more people desire to work than are jobs available to meet this demand for employment.

“There is a persistent narrative when assessing local labor market conditions in North Carolina. The recovery has been uneven and is bypassing a lot of people who live in both rural and urban areas,” said Cedric Johnson, Policy Analyst for the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. “In light of the labor market news, it is still clear that there are too few jobs for all who want to work in North Carolina. Moreover, there are also too few skills training opportunities for those who seek retraining for new careers.”

Key findings from the county data include:

• Only 4 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have reached the 5 percent threshold for unemployment that many economists view as full employment.
• The number of people looking for work is still higher in 89 counties than it was before the recession.
  67 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have not gotten back to pre-recession levels of employment.
• 17 counties actually lost jobs over the last year.

Key findings from the metropolitan data include:

• All but one metropolitan area has added jobs since the start of the Great Recession. However, the number of people looking for work has grown much faster in every metropolitan area except one (Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton) during that period.
• In 14 of North Carolina’s 15 metropolitan areas, the increase in the number of people looking for work is more than 20 percent higher than pre-recession levels.
• Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is the only metro area to experience a decline in labor force (3.5 percent), number of employed workers (3.7 percent), and number of workers looking for work (0.2 percent) since the start of the Great Recession.
• The Budget and Tax Center provides summaries of each county’s current labor market data, and how each county has fared since the start of the recession.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Cedric Johnson, cedric@ncjustice.org, 919.856.3192; Jeff Shaw, jeff@ncjustice.org, 503.551.3615 (cell).