| 118th Year, 5th Issue | Thursday, September 14, 2006 | Sparta, North Carolina |
Two consecutive months ofstrong job growth is good news for Western North Carolina's economy.
Economic activity, as measured by the Western North Carolina Economic Index, increased .2 percent in July. The increase,which follows an .8 percent increase in June, continues the strong pace of economic growth in the WNC region.
"The job growth in recentmonths has helped the regional labor market reverse a longstanding trend of falling behind the rest of the state," said Todd Cherry, a professor of economics at Appalachian State University and co-author of the index.
Even with the strong growth rates, Cherry warns the recent volatility in the regional economy raises questions about the future.
"At the national level, there is a sense of unease despite hearing reports of strong economic indicators," he said. "The volatility at the local level is part of that issue."
The index, produced by the university's Walker College of Business, tracks activity in 25 western counties in the state. Seasonally adjusted employment for Western North Carolina increased . 45 percent in July and has increased 1.6 percent since the start of 2006. Statewide employment increas-ed .5 percent in July.
The growth in jobs was spread across the region, with 17 of the 25 WNC counties seeing gains in employment in July. This followed even stronger growth in June. The biggest gains in employment during July were concentrated in the western part of the region, while the largestlosses were largely found in the foothills.
The seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment for the WNC region increased .1 percentage point in July to 4.8 percent. The adjusted unemployment rate for both North Carolina and the United States increased .2 point to 4.8 percent.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate within the region's rural counties increased .2 point to 5.2 percent in July. Unemployment rates also increased in the region's metro areas for the month; up .4 point to 3.8 percent in Asheville and up .2 point to 5.8 percent in Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir.
Nineteen of the 25 WNC counties had higher unemployment rates in July. This continues an up and down trend in county level unemployment rates for the region. Eleven counties have unemployment rates below 5, while only four have rates above 6.
Caldwell, McDowell and Mitchell counties had the largest declines in unemployment rates (.55, .22, and .12), while Alexander, Burke and Alleghany counties had the largest increases in rates (.96, .52 and . 50).
Henderson, Polk and Watauga counties had the lowest unemployment rates in June (3.19, 3.43 and 3.45).
Rutherford, Graham and Caldwell counties had the highestrates(8.06, 6.56 and 6.09).
Alexander and Watauga were the only counties that did not have lower unemployment rates in July than 12 months ago.
In Alleghany, the unemploymetn rate was listed as 5.06 percent, up
from 4.55 percent in June. The rate was still down from the July 2005
rate of 5.51 percent.
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