Topics Related to Labor Market

As we commemorate Equal Pay Day on March 12th, 2024, our focus turns to the enduring issue of wage disparity between men and women. Our latest analysis examines the wage divide across occupational groups in North Carolina.

After LEAD published our first article discussing ChatGPT, we have continued to learn and develop new insights that reshape our understanding of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the workforce. Here are the top five things we have learned so far.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we review some of 2023’s key economic trends and speculate on how these trends might evolve in the year to come. Slower economic growth and lower price inflation have led to widespread expectation that interest rates will finally start to ease in 2024. We’ll be watching for signs of how far interest rates might fall and whether our economy will experience a soft landing, a hard landing, or no landing at all in the months ahead.

North Carolina’s population is getting older, a trend with the potential to reshape our economy and our workforce. In this article, we use data from the North Carolina Common Follow-up System (CFS) to show how older workers are faring in our state’s labor market.

How long do people commute for? Do people work where they live and vice-versa? In a two-part blog series, we seek to answer these questions using recent Census data.

In this edition of NC Economy Watch, we assess current conditions in the construction sector. Despite preliminary data showing a decline in construction jobs, most signs continue to depict a construction sector that is active and growing, driven in part by a surge of investment in factories and infrastructure.

The latest QCEW release gives us the most timely and detailed view of what’s happening across North Carolina’s industry sectors. This article looks at where jobs and wages have grown – and declined – over the past year, and how inflation has impacted assessment.

Following the COVID-19 recession, employment rates for individuals with disabilities hit record highs nationwide and in North Carolina, yet the exact reasons behind this sudden increase remain largely unresolved. In this article, we use American Community Survey (ACS) data to examine several proposed explanations for the surprising uptick in disability employment.

Individuals with disabilities are an important source of workforce talent but have historically experienced poor labor market outcomes. This article uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) to describe the workforce outcomes and employment barriers of individuals with disabilities in North Carolina.

This is the third article in LEAD’s recent Manufacturing series, which explores North Carolina’s Industry 4.0 assets.