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Economist sees N.C., national economy improving
Story Date: 5/30/2013
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Source: NCSU COLLEGE OF AG &LIFE SCIENCES, 5/29/13
Things are looking up economically in both North Carolina and across the nation.
That is the conclusion of Dr. Mike Walden, economist and William Neal
Reynolds Distinguished professor at North Carolina State University.
Walden provides a North Carolina Economic Outlook every six months,
and in his latest outlook, for summer 2013, he sees both the national
and state economies growing and adding jobs over the next two years.
Walden predicts that 2 million new payroll jobs will be created across
the country this year, and 2.5 million added in 2014. That will push
the unemployment rate to 6.8 percent by the end of this year and to
6.2 percent at the end of 2014.
North Carolina’s economy may actually be growing a bit faster than the
national economy, Walden says. He expects the state to create 100,000
jobs this year and again in 2014. That should put the state’s jobless
rate at 6.8 percent at the end of 2014.
Walden says a nationwide manufacturing revival is particularly
apparent in North Carolina. The state is also expected to benefit from
what the economist calls a “construction surge,” a large pool of
college graduates available for knowledge-based industries and retires
moving to the state in large numbers.
Most economic indicators are trending upward, Walden pointed out,
while inflation remains low.
Consumer spending tends to drive the American economy, Walden
explains, and the 2007-2009 recession sliced into consumer spending
dramatically. Household asset values decreased by $17 trillion. Over
the last three years, Walden says, household asset values have
rebounded, which is good news for the economy.
While the North Carolina economic picture is rosy, it is rosier in
some places than others.
The Asheville, Durham-Chapel Hill, Charlotte and Raleigh-Cary areas
have seen the greatest economic growth and are likely to continue to
see the most growth and lowest unemployment rates over the next year
and a half. Walden expects less growth and higher jobless rates in the
Fayetteville, Hickory and Rocky Mount areas.
The North Carolina Economic Outlook, Summer 2013 is available in its
entirety online at
http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/faculty/walden/publications/outlooknc/nceconomicoutlooksummer2013.pdf
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