North Carolina will add 100,000 net jobs in 2017 and its aggregate growth will exceed national growth, reversing the post recession trend, says NC State University economist Dr. Mike Walden in his first quarter 2017 economic outlook. Jobless rates will fall to below 4 percent in Durham, Raleigh and Asheville, but remain above 6 percent in Goldsboro and Rocky Mount.
The fastest job growth in the state will continue in both higher and lower paying jobs, with slowest growth in the middle, but the differences will not be as great as in recent years, Walden writes.
Among other major points in the forecast:
North Carolina may benefit from Trump administration policies such as expanded military spending and increased off-shore energy exploration.
Both inflation and interest rates will trend higher.
National economic growth will accelerate in 2017, primarily due to the expected federal economic stimulus of reduced tax rates.
To increase and spread prosperity, the state needs to facilitate more rapid growth in high productivity industries.
A continuing concern is the continuing slow growth of labor productivity, which has a long term correlation with improvements in the standard of living.
The biggest question mark for the Trump administration is in their proposals on international trade, which could result in other nations retaliating.
