The state’s economy will continue going through an anemic recovery this year, according to UNC-Charlotte economist John Connaughton’s latest economic forecast. Connaughton expects the state’s economy to grow 2.7 percent this year compared to 2010. That’s down from the 3.2 percent growth he predicted late last year. Still, it’s better than the 1.3 percent expansion the N.C. economy likely experienced in 2010, Connaughton said. “We have been able to struggle through 2010 without a double dip (into recession), but the sluggish economic growth during the past year really hasn’t felt much like a recovery,” he said.
Eight of the state’s 11 economic sectors experienced growth last year, with agriculture, mining, services and retail posting the biggest gains, Connaughton said. But companies statewide added just 10,500 net jobs, an increase of 0.3 percent over 2009. That’s not nearly enough to make up the more than 282,000 lost in the recession, he said. This year, Connaughton expects output to increase in eight sectors and employment to grow in seven of the state’s 10 nonagricultural sectors. N.C. companies will likely add 46,200 jobs in 2011, an increase of 1.2 percent over the December 2010 employment level. But Connaughton predicts the unemployment rate to remain inflated, ending the year at 9.5 percent.(THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/16/11).
