114th Year, 50th Issue Thursday, July 24, 2003 Sparta, North Carolina

Report shows unemployment improvements

Economic activity in Western North Carolina remained unchanged in May according to the Western North Carolina Economic Index. The flat economic performance follows two months of sizable increases.

The index, which tracks the level of economic activity in 25 western North Carolina counties, was 121.8 in May — unchanged from April. Nearly half of the 1.3 percent increase in activity experienced in the past year occurred in the previous two months.

"The region experienced sizable increases in economic activity the prior two months, but the lack of movement in May reminds us that the economy remains somewhat weak," according to Todd Cherry, one of the authors of the report and an associate professor of economics in Appalachian State University's Walker College of Business.

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