Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Decades of Democratic rule saw RTP emerge to become the world's premier research park and the ascension of Charlotte to become one of the nation's largest banking centers and premier midsized business centers. So what exactly is there to "fix," at least economically?
Decades of Democratic rule saw RTP emerge to become the world's premier research park and the ascension of Charlotte to become one of the nation's largest banking centers and premier midsized business centers. So what exactly is there to "fix," at least economically?
Well if you want to use that standard, what's the problem now? RTP is doing well. Other areas...well maybe not so much.
Decades of Democratic rule saw RTP emerge to become the world's premier research park
and the ascension of Charlotte to become one of the nation's largest banking centers...
So what exactly is there to "fix," at least economically?
Real jobs with decent wages and benefits for the other 80% of NC employees.
Jobs for those unqualified for the RTP tech and CLT finance jobs...
and jobs (of all sorts) for those in the other 90 counties around the state.
Real jobs with decent wages and benefits for the other 80% of NC employees.
Jobs for those unqualified for the RTP tech and CLT finance jobs...
and jobs (of all sorts) for those in the other 90 counties around the state.
I only used the Triangle and Charlotte as examples because they are the most significant ones. The fact of the matter is that the success that those two areas have experienced have ensured that the state's best and brightest don't have to leave the state for decent employment prospects. NC's "brain gain" over the past few decades has been a major victory for the former "valley of humility in between two mountains of conceit."
However, it should be realized that jobs are just going to cluster more in urban areas, period. There will always be economically-depressed rural areas, but even then I give Democratic leadership credit for the park in Kinston which finally landed the Spirit Aerosystems manufacturing plant. You also have the NC Research Park in Kannapolis and a couple of those data centers that have landed in smaller towns. I think decent attempts have been made to bring jobs to the smaller towns throughout the state. Site Selection magazine has often ranked NC pretty high when it comes to this:
Now if you guys are lamenting the fact that you don't have huge automobile or tire plants like SC and AL, then don't. NC has historically been more discerning and calculating about the use of incentives to lure these types of developments and understand that a point can be reached where the benefits aren't worth the costs--unlike SC and AL, who don't care about that and will sell their firstborn for projects like these whether the numbers really work in their favor or not.
I only used the Triangle and Charlotte as examples because they are the most significant ones.
The fact of the matter is that the success that those two areas...
The fact of the matter is that what success we've experienced in attracting/growing those decent
paying jobs has largely been limited to the better jobs in rather few counties (5-10 of 100).
The rest of the job classes there? Not so much.
Quote:
...it should be realized that jobs are just going to cluster more in urban areas
Which is basically true in every area of the country.
All of which brings us back to the underlying problem here (and everywhere else too):
the far too high number of people vs the far too low number of jobs not being done.
Some people just don't understand good jobs go to best candidates or the company goes out of business.....
you can't get it, and you try to make sure others can't get it... That's why the unemployment rate is so high......
But often, even if someone moves from out of state WITH a job, they bring a "trailing spouse" who is not employed, so that still adds another unemployed person to the total.
Quote:
If you weren't aware, NC was once at 10.5%. How hard is the word "growth" to understand?
And what was the US rate when that was true? The point is NC's continued high ranking among the 50 states, whatever the absolute total is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aphorista
I have not read all the posts so forgive me if someone also mentioned this. There are a large number of soldiers, marines, airmen being discharged or retired from NC bases. Quite a few of them will apply for unemployment until they get a job or benefits. I wonder if this contributes to the high rate.
Unemployment rate does not have anything to do with who is filing for unemployment benefits, though of course military members losing their jobs would drive up unemployment, whether they apply for benefits or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich6896
I have to agree. They have had 8 months to fix the decades of democrat rule and they have failed.
I understand the employment rate is actually going UP for some classes of people: young Republican former campaign staffers. Nice work if you can get it.
Ron Paulus, the president and CEO of Mission Health announced in a letter to employees that the health care provider will lay off fewer than 70 caregivers in an effort to cut costs. Hospital administrators will also be impacted, as pay for Paulus and other high-level executives will be reduced in 2014. http://www.citizen-times.com/article...nclick_check=1
The fact of the matter is that what success we've experienced in attracting/growing those decent
paying jobs has largely been limited to the better jobs in rather few counties (5-10 of 100).
The rest of the job classes there? Not so much.
I did point out a couple of notable eco-devo projects in other parts of the state. At the same time though, what happens in the major counties makes the entire state look more attractive when it comes to jobs and such.
Quote:
Which is basically true in every area of the country.
Right, which is what I acknowledged when I said "However, it should be realized that jobs are just going to cluster more in urban areas, period." You didn't quote the "period" which indicated the universality of this phenomenon.
Quote:
All of which brings us back to the underlying problem here (and everywhere else too):
the far too high number of people vs the far too low number of jobs not being done.
So how has Gov. McCrory and the Republican legislature mitigated this? I'm not seeing the rush of jobs to eastern NC and the mountains (although Asheville in particular seems averse to economic development). There's nothing in their agenda thus far that has indicated that this is a high priority for them.
Seems to me that the Dems throughout the years in NC have proven themselves to be quite capable of luring economic investment to the state and it would have been easier to hold their feet to the fire in terms of steering more economic development to other parts of the state.
The fact of the matter is that what success we've experienced in attracting/growing those decent
paying jobs has largely been limited to the better jobs in rather few counties (5-10 of 100).
The rest of the job classes there? Not so much.
Which is basically true in every area of the country.
All of which brings us back to the underlying problem here (and everywhere else too):
the far too high number of people vs the far too low number of jobs not being done.
FWIW, the top five counties in NC account for about 3.1 million people and the top ten account for about 4.05 million. Counties in the top ten list represent Metrolina, The Triangle, The Triangle, Asheville, Fayetteville and Wilmington....the top urbanized areas within the state. Couple this data with the long term trend nationwide of population growth in urban areas outstripping that in rural areas and it's easy to see why every state will focus its job creation activities where more people live now and where more of them are likely to live in the future.
Rural areas are particularly hit hard because their former manufacturing base has been moving offshore for a few decades now and those jobs are neither likely to return enmass nor are they likely to be replaced by new manufacturing opportunities. To compete for these limited manufacturing jobs with low cost states is essentially a race to the bottom. How does NC get these jobs? They have to give huge incentives that essentially push a percentage of the effective wage paid back to NC tax payers. ....and what about these jobs? These jobs pay meager wages to desperate people and it's pathetic. For example, workers making luxury cars for the 1% in the US are paid half the typical wage that their German counterparts make while the manufacturer and its investors benefit. Working at a Costco in NC's urban areas pays a better wage with probably better benefits.
Agribusiness is the one business that can expand in rural areas and the state would be smart to get out in front and continue to position business development away from tobacco and toward that part of the business that can create the best long term job prospects.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
