Economy

Stages of pandemic employment: Who left the workforce early, and who is out of work now?

By Kaitlin Heatwole in Economy

March 25, 2021

Statewide labor force data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics portrays clear differences between the early and later stage impacts of the pandemic on North Carolina employment in 2020. Black women bore the brunt of the initial spike in unemployment, from which they have mostly recovered. White women were more likely to leave the labor force entirely in the early stages, a trend which has only partially reversed. Black men experienced a dramatic decrease in total employment during the second half of 2020, which was caused by both increased unemployment and increased non-participation in the labor force.

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What Job Openings Tell Us About Pandemic Employment and the Economic Recovery

By Kshitiz Khanal and Nichola Lowe in Economy

February 9, 2021

By April 2020 unemployment in the US reached a historic high, hitting communities of color, and low-earning workers among them, the hardest. We trace the uneven recovery of the economy in North Carolina by examining the jobs openings posted online.

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Layoffs Return to pre-Pandemic Levels, but Impacts Remain

By Kaitlin Heatwole in Economy

November 30, 2020

After an increase in temporary layoffs and closures over the summer, permanent layoffs and closures have dropped to pre-pandemic levels. While most events are concentrated in large urban centers, local impacts can be very large.

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Home Sale Indicators Show Strongest Growth in a Decade, but Lagging Supply is Cause for Concern

By Ethan Sleeman in Housing

November 24, 2020

North Carolina has seen a drop in residential construction permitting during the pandemic, but sales of single-family homes have increased. What does this mean for the state's economy?

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In spite of local differences, office vacancy rates climb in North Carolina

By Donald Planey in Economy

October 22, 2020

The COVID-19 recession has caused an increase in office vacancy- unoccupied office space- across the state of North Carolina. But what exactly does this mean for the state's economy?

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Widening Racial Disparities in Unemployment Claims

By Kaitlin Heatwole & Ethan Sleeman in Economy

October 5, 2020

The COVID-19 recession caused a spike in unemployment across the United States. Using unemployment insurance claim data from throughout the pandemic, we can identify distinct dynamics of gender and race in pandemic-related unemployment.

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