Study: N.C. economy to grow 2.8% next year (Charlotte Business Journal)
North Carolina’s economy is likely to grow 2.8 percent next year from the 2009 level, according to UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton.
Connaughton anticipates expansion in six of the state’s 11 economic sectors next year: construction; services; government; retail trade; finance, insurance and real estate; and transportation, warehousing, utilities and information.
In his quarterly economic forecast Thursday, Connaughton said the N.C. economy will end up contracting 3.6 percent this year from the 2008 level.
He foresees output declines for nine of the state’s 11 economic sectors this year. The declining sectors are construction; mining; finance, insurance and real estate; durable-goods manufacturing; retail trade; wholesale trade; nondurable-goods manufacturing; agriculture; and services.
Connaughton says two sectors — government; and transportation, warehousing, utilities and information — will show growth this year.
North Carolina’s net job losses for 2009 will total 124,100, he says. That represents a 3.1 percent decrease in the state’s total employment from the 2008 level, Connaughton says.
The N.C. economy contracted 0.6 percent during 2008, he says. That compares with a 2.4 percent increase in North Carolina’s gross state product in 2007.
Thursday, December 10, 2009, 12:15pm EST | Modified: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 2:25pm
