And the Charlotte region lost a staggering 23,000 for July, according to state employment commission numbers. Put another way, absolutely no progress has been made on the jobs front in Mecklenburg County this year.
For 2009 the monthly county unemployment rate averaged 10.8 percent. So far across the first seven months of 2010 — the average is 10.9 percent. Even more ominous is that the county is back down to 410,789 total jobs, a drop of 5000 since May and 30,000 short of pre-recession peaks. The workforce is back under 460,000 again, or fully 13,000 short of its peak. Total unemployment in the county remains stock still at 49,075. That number would have to be cut in half for there to be a full jobs “recovery” in Mecklenburg.
Needless to say, consumer spending and hence local sales tax revenue is not going to recover with that many jobless out there.
Bonus Observation: Gold star for Kirsten Valle for finally writing about the local economic landscape and not talking to upside speculator Mark Vitner. His relentless shilling for Charlotte has rendered him useless in assessing the real local economy. More grounded, local Federal Reserve economist Rick Kaglic, who looks at the economic situation and declares: “It’s hard to find what you would actually call a bright spot.”
Update: Gold star deleted. See comments.
