Economic Data
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“What many people don’t know about North Carolina is that we sell the largest number of Christmas trees of any state on the Eastern seaboard. In 2012, our growers cut nearly 4.3 million Christmas trees. Only Oregon growers cut and sold more trees that year.” – Dee Webb, Celebrating Old North State Agriculture From Thanksgiving turkeys and sweet potatoes to Christmas trees and poinsettias, North Carolina farmers have your holiday needs covered. Not only that,…
NC doesn’t just lead the nation in sweet potatoes – we’re also one of the top turkey producing states. Here are a few fun facts about NC turkeys: 1992 Turkey production—measured as number of heads of turkey produced—peaked in North Carolina in 1992, with 62 million turkeys. The number of turkeys produced in North Carolina has steadily declined since its mid-1990s peak. Although this has led to some declines in overall pounds of turkey produced,…
North Carolina farm products are likely to have a starring role in next week’s Thanksgiving dinners across the state (and nation). Our state farms lead the nation in both sweet potato and turkey production. Here are a few fun facts about NC sweet potatoes: 1971 The year that North Carolina passed Louisiana in sweet potato production. We’ve held the top spot for the last 42 years! 1.1 billion The amount of sweet potatoes, in pounds,…
The Labor & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) at the North Carolina Department of Commerce has a new blog, the LEAD Feed, devoted to helping individuals and organizations better understand the workforce and economic development in our state. Launched in mid-September, the blog has averaged 2 to 3 posts per week across a diverse range of topics, such as the potential impact of Russia’s ban on U.S. pork on North Carolina’s exports and the impact of…
The National Science Board (NSB) recently released an interactive, online resource with data and graphics about student proficiency, college degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and jobs in science-related occupations. While examining this data, I stumbled across a second web resource related to the NSB’s Science and Engineering Indicators 2014. The S&E Indicators State Data Tool provides data on 59 state indicators, such as elementary and secondary education metrics, the size of…
In the mid- to late-twentieth century, suburbanization shifted population growth from urban areas to suburbs. In response, revitalization of the downtown core became the primary focus of many cities’ economic development plans. This is what Aaron Renn of the Urbanophile terms the “Old Donut” model: cities across the nation spent the past few decades trying to fill their downtown economic “holes” through billions of dollars in revitalization efforts, “ranging from stadiums to convention centers to…
Nationally, more than a third (35%) of all twenty-something young adults were living at home in 2012. The largest share was in New Jersey: nearly half (48%) of New Jersey's young adults were still living in a household headed by their parent or step-parent. In three other states--Connecticut, New York, and California--more than 40% of young adults were living at home. In contrast, only 17% of young adults ages 20-29 were living with their parents in North…
“In 2012, 36% of the nation’s young adults ages 18 to 31—the so-called Millennial generation—were living in their parents’ home... This is the highest share in at least four decades and represents a slow but steady increase over the 32% of their same-aged counterparts who were living at home prior to the Great Recession in 2007 and the 34% doing so when it officially ended in 2009…. The steady rise in the share of…
In celebration of Labor Day, a national holiday created to recognize the social and economic achievements of American workers, here's a quick look at some data about North Carolina's labor force. 4.7 million North Carolinians 16 and over were in the civilian labor force in 2013. Among wage and salary employees working in non-farm establishments, nearly a quarter (22.5%) were employed in one of these 10 occupations in 2013: 117,000 North Carolina employees were members…
In 1880, 14% of U.S. workers were employed in manufacturing; in North Carolina, 4% were (most were working on farms). Employment in manufacturing grew steadily in both the nation and the state through mid-twentieth century. By 1930, 22% of North Carolina workers were employed in manufacturing, matching the national rate. National employment in manufacturing peaked in 1960 (27%) and subsequently declined. Since 1940, North Carolina’s share of employees in the manufacturing industry has been higher…
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