CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New data shows North Carolina is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on jobs and the economy quicker than other states.
UNC Charlotte presented its annual economic report Friday, including predictions for the new year. And finally, there's hope on the horizon in North Carolina.
"This is not trending in the wrong direction. This is trending in the right direction," said John Connaughton, a financial economics professor at UNC Charlotte, who presented the annual report. "There's no question about it, the coronavirus will continue to dominate the economic picture in 2021, as well."
In 2020, North Carolina lost 190,700 jobs. The report predicts the state's economy will rebound quickly, with an estimated gain of about 200,000 jobs by the end of the year. The report says 14 of the 15 economic sectors are expected to increase their profits, all except for mining, and forecasts are showing unemployment should officially reach pre-pandemic levels by December.
"By the end of December, we expect to get 99.8% of the jobs back to the level from when this all began," Connaughton said.
Many job search sites report listings are almost back to pre-pandemic levels but ZipRecruiter financial analyst Julia Pollock says the large majority is in-person work, and those positions aren't being filled since most job hunters are still hesitant to leave home.
"Employers are looking for candidates quite feverishly in our marketplace, but many of those jobs require working in person," Pollock said. "Sixty percent of job seekers on ZipRecruiter right now are looking for remote opportunities, but only about 9% of the job postings explicitly offer that opportunity."
North Carolina's unemployment rate is currently 6.1%, down from April's peak of 12.9%. That's still a long way from being fully recovered.
"We are probably in the middle of the pack in terms of the employment recovery," Connaughton said. "We've done real well in terms of output, not so well in terms of employment."
Still, the report predicts a near full recovery this year. Connaughton emphasized that's fully dependent on herd immunity and public confidence that COVID-19 is no longer a widespread threat.
"We should be close to herd immunity by the end of April, if not there," Connaughton said. "It will depend incredibly, it will depend on how consumers feel about going back out in April, May, etc."