Charlotte Observer hides unemployment facts, Greensboro News Record presents truth, Democrat Convention in Charlotte reason?, NC shrinking labor force
Charlotte Observer hides unemployment facts, Greensboro News Record presents truth, Democrat Convention in Charlotte reason?, NC shrinking labor force
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.” ….Edward R. Murrow
“Not every item of news should be published: rather must
those who control news policies endeavor to make every item
of news serve a certain purpose.”… Joseph Goebbels
“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed
–if all records told the same tale–then the lie passed into
history and became truth. “Who controls the past,” ran the
Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present
controls the past.”…George Orwell, “1984″
I have noticed a lot of honest reporting from the Greensboro News and Record regarding the unemployment situation in NC in recent months. The Charlotte Observer on the other hand, recently endorsed Jim Pendergraph for congress and then after he questioned Obama the Observer retracted that endorsement. The latest unemployment data for NC was just released. First the Charlotte Observer article, which I had to really dig to find.
From The Vail Business Journal May 26, 2012.
“Charlotte region’s unemployment rate drops
By Celeste Smith, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
May 25–The Charlotte region’s unemployment rate stayed below 10?percent in April for the second straight month, and it dropped significantly from a year earlier, according to figures released Friday by the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Division of Employment Security.
Unemployment in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill metropolitan area declined to 9.1?percent from 9.6?percent the month before. The unemployment rate a year earlier was 10.6?percent.
Statewide, unemployment rates fell in April from the previous month in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, including Mecklenburg, where the rate fell to 9.0?percent from 9.5 percent. Rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Mecklenburg’s unemployment rate beat the state average of 9.1?percent. But more than 43,700 people remained unemployed in the county.
Some surrounding counties fared better than Mecklenburg in year-to-year comparisons, said UNC?Charlotte economics professor John Connaughton. For example, the 1.7?percent drop in Catawba County’s unemployment rate compared to April 2011 exceeded Mecklenburg’s 1.2?percent.
But Connaughton said that’s also a sign the region’s economy is improving.
“We’ve gotten a lot better in the last year,” Connaughton said.
“What it’s suggesting is, after the great financial collapse and the impact on a lot of our manufacturing (sector) in the surrounding counties, those things seem to be getting back on track.”
Statewide, April 2012 unemployment rates declined in 88 counties compared with last April. Rates increased in 11 counties, and remained the same in one.
“Looking at over-the-year numbers, most of North Carolina’s counties have lower unemployment rates which is certainly positive,” said commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll.
For the second straight month, unemployment rates decreased in all 14 of the state’s metro areas, according to the state data.
Connaughton predicts the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill metro area will beat the state’s rate in upcoming months.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re below 8?percent by the end of the year. Not that that’s great, but it’s a lot better than the last couple of years,” Connaughton said.
“We’re starting to see some job growth come back, and that’s really important, and it’s been consistent.””
http://www.vailbusinessjournal.com/print-article.php?type=yb&id=55093&sid=11
From the Greensboro News Record May 26, 2012.
“By DONALD W. PATTERSON
Staff Writer”
“Unemployment rates fell in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in April , including those in the Triad .
That’s good news, obviously.
Yet, analysts said, those numbers mask a deeper, more troubling trend — the shrinkage of the state’s labor force.
Over the last year, only the Piedmont Triad and the Research Triangle have posted gains in their labor pools, which represent those people who have jobs or are actively looking for work.
The 12-county Piedmont Triad economic development region saw its workforce grow by 0.3 percent in the past year. Granted, that’s a small increase, but aside from the Triangle, the other five regions of the state experienced declines in their labor pools during that period.
“Although the drop in the unemployment rate is unquestionably a positive sign, we should not read too much into this as a measure of the state’s long-term recovery,” Allan Freyer , a policy analyst with the N.C. Budget & Tax Center in Raleigh , wrote in his April jobs report. “Much of the mathematical drop in the unemployment rate is simply due to the decrease in the labor force in most of these regions across the state.”
Freyer said the unemployment rate can drop when job seekers become discouraged and stop looking for a job.
“We’re seeing troubling signs of a two-tier recovery in the state,” his report said. “ … Regions like the Triangle and the Piedmont (are) growing their labor force and employment base, while the rest of the state gets left behind.”
In the past year, Freyer said, the Piedmont Triad’s employment has grown by 1.5 percent. In the Triangle, it’s gone up 1.9 percent.
“The biggest areas (in the state) are the ones getting the most job growth,” Freyer said in an interview. “The Piedmont Triad region is growing because its metro areas are growing.”
In the Greensboro-High Point metropolitan area, for example, manufacturing jobs increased over the past year by 2,300 , or 4.5 percent. In the Winston-Salem metro, leisure and hospitality jobs rose by 800 , or 3.9 percent. In the Burlington metro, government jobs jumped by 5.5 percent, or 400 jobs.
Even so, six area counties still have unemployment rates at 9 percent or higher.
The rate in Guilford County , for example, dropped to 9.1 percent compared with 10.2 percent in April of 2011 .
Area rates ranged from 8.5 percent in Forsyth to 10.4 percent in Rockingham .
Statewide, the unemployment rate stood at 9.1 percent in April .
Compared with last December , the state has added nearly 26,000 jobs, but 85 percent of the gain occurred in January .
“Over the last two months, North Carolina has essentially netted no new jobs,” John Quinterno , a principal with South by North Strategies , a research firm in Chapel Hill , wrote in his monthly jobs report. “While North Carolina’s job market began 2012 moving in a positive direction, it has failed to maintain that momentum.”
In all, more than 421,000 North Carolinians were unemployed in April . That’s nearly twice the number without jobs in December 2007 , when the recession started.
In addition, just 56.6 percent of the state’s total population had a job last month.
“This suggests that the state’s economy is creating just enough jobs to keep treading water,” Freyer’s report said. “(That’s) nowhere near enough to keep up with population growth and replace those jobs lost during the recession.””
http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/05/25/article/job_growth_stalls_across_state
Were they writing about the same state?
Greensboro is the largest city of the Triad. Raleigh the largest city of the Triangle.
Compare the following exerpt from the News Record to the Observer article:
“Over the last year, only the Piedmont Triad and the Research Triangle have posted gains in their labor pools, which represent those people who have jobs or are actively looking for work.
The 12-county Piedmont Triad economic development region saw its workforce grow by 0.3 percent in the past year. Granted, that’s a small increase, but aside from the Triangle, the other five regions of the state experienced declines in their labor pools during that period.”
On May 18, 2012 Raleigh WRAL was noted for their honest reporting on NC employment.
For what can only be described at best as misleading reporting on the employment situation in NC I award the Charlotte Observer 4 Orwells.
Greensboro is the hometown of Edward R. Murrow. I believe that Mr. Murrow would be pleased with the News and Record for this report.
The Democrat Convention will be held in Charlotte, NC.
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