The N.C. Justice Center, a Raleigh-based nonprofit that advocates for progressive causes, crunched some numbers on employment trends, prompting this report today:
- Thirteen metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas have lost jobs since the beginning of the Great Recession [in December 2007]. Cullowhee, North Wilkesboro, Henderson, Lumberton, Wilson, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Elizabeth City, Washington, New Bern, Laurinburg, Rockingham, and Forest City have seen their employment decrease. Forest City, in Western N.C., continues to fare the worst, losing 16 percent of their jobs since December 2007.
- Metro and Micros driving recovery: Raleigh (33 percent), Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia (30 percent), Oxford (25 percent), Wilmington (23 percent), Durham-Chapel-Hill (20 percent), Boone (21 percent), Asheville (20 percent), Burlington (19 percent), Pinehurst-Southern Pines (17 percent), Greenville (15 percent), Brevard (13 percent), and Dunn (12 percent) all have seen double-digit employment growth since December 2007.
The Justice Center favors more intentional efforts to assist the state’s more economically depressed areas. “Small towns across the state have real people with real regional challenges that deserve intentional analysis and specialized public policy,” says William Munn, policy analyst with the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the Justice Center. “Leaders need to address the barriers that have plagued their communities for decades, and tax cuts will not do it.”
For more information on Justice Center reports, click here.
