The Brookings Institution’s latest metro economic profile of the 100 largest urban areas in the nation has Charlotte ranked a dismal 63rd. Worse, competitors Columbia and Raleigh came in much higher — 14th and 30th respectively.

Drill down a little further and you see that Charlotte’s high unemployment numbers along with weakness in housing dragged the region down. One number to watch, do the number of bad mortgages and otherwise distressed properties increase through the rest of the year, or start to fall back down? As we’ve pointed out repeatedly, lack of jobs means a lack of income to pay for things like mortgages. Until Charlotte’ employment trends reverse the local housing market remains very vulnerable.