Carolina Tracker Stories

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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Outside Of Metropolitan Areas, Housing Sales And Prices Are Up

By Ethan Sleeman in Housing

January 13, 2021

While demand for housing is up across the State, further analysis suggests that there are distinct differences in home sale and price trends between central, outlying, and non CBSA counties. Areas outside urban cores, with historically lower sale prices, are seeing significant growth in sales, as well as wide fluctuations in prices, possibly suggesting a surging interest in living outside the state’s central urban areas.

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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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After Support Ended, Childcare Took a Hit in Enrollment and Employment

By Kaitlin Heatwole in Social

November 25, 2020

We’ve seen decreased enrollment of children in childcare facilities during the pandemic across North Carolina. Employment at childcare facilities has seen an attendant decrease. Areas with higher rates of unemployment have been hit the hardest.

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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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Where Do We Go During a Pandemic?

By Olivia Wang in activity

November 19, 2020

The pandemic has profoundly changed where we go. Using data from Safegraph, we examine how foot traffic to grocery stores, health care centers, offices, parks, and other types of establishments has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many common destinations experienced a a large drop in foot traffic soon after stay-at-home orders were announced. By May, they saw substantial recovery in foot traffic but, the recovery pattern was different for certain types of establishments.

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What are Core Based Statistical Areas and why do we use them?

By Donald Planey in Geography

October 28, 2020

Even though we are all familiar with the terms urban, suburban, and rural, there isn't an objective definition we can use for data analysis. However, The way we dice up geography has an impact on how we interpret the world around us.

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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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Vehicle Travel Bounces Back

By Olivia Wang in travel

October 22, 2020

There is an uneven recovery of travel volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Central counties exhibited a large drop in travel soon after the shutdown but have fully recovered to previous levels by September. Outlying counties have yet to fully recover to their previous levels.

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Victims of Domestic Violence Struggle During the Pandemic

By Donald Planey in social

October 13, 2020

The pandemic led to an overall decrease in domestic violence reportage in North Carolina. However, this is probably an artifact of reporting rather than decline in violence.

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Non-CBSA Renters Facing Higher Eviction Rates

By Ethan Sleeman in Housing

October 5, 2020

Non-CBSA renters are facing a growing burden in the ongoing economic recession initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there have been several moratoriums on eviction for non-payment at the state and national level, our research indicates that non-CBSA landlords are filing for evictions at a higher rate than their central and outlying CBSA counterparts.

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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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