(By Jefferson George, jgeorge@charlotteobserver.com)
An official ruling won’t come for a couple of years, but the recession likely ended this spring, A UNC Charlotte economist said today. Even so, North Carolina’s economic recovery will be slow, with unemployment remaining in double digits the rest of this year, said John Connaughton, author of the quarterly UNC Charlotte economic forecast. And despite positive signs this quarter, such as a boost in corporate profits and improved consumer confidence, it’s unclear what the state economy will look like once it recovers next year, Connaughton told a crowd about 50 at UNC Charlotte’s uptown campus. The school’s economic forecast has studied state economic conditions since 1981. North Carolina is expected to lose 123,500 jobs this year, according to the latest forecast. About 112,000 of those job losses came in the first four months of 2009, Connaughton said. “That’s the good news,” he said. Still, the total for the year is more than double the 58,200 lost jobs that Connaughton estimated three months ago, and it comes after the state lost more than 120,000 jobs last year. The biggest declines this year will come in construction, durable goods manufacturing and nondurable goods manufacturing. The only sector expected to see any job growth is government.Similar Posts:
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