Western North Carolina’s economy continued to decline in February but at a slower rate than in previous months, according to a report released Thursday by economists at Appalachian State University.
Economic activity in the region dropped by 0.1 percent for the month, the smallest decline recorded since July 2008, as measured by the WNC Economic Index.
“The drops in all previous months since last August have been well in excess of that, sometimes dropping even more than a whole percentage point in a single month,” said John Dawson, an economics professor at ASU and co-author of the index.
The economic index is measured by comparing local employment rates to employment statewide and by looking at the nation’s gross domestic product versus North Carolina’s, Dawson said.
Declines in seasonally adjusted employment in the region appeared to be leveling off in February, dropping by only 0.26 percent, the smallest decline since June 2008. Employment statewide dropped by 0.4 percent.
“Employment in our 25-county area declined less, proportionally, than statewide, which just indicates that our local area compared to the entire state is doing a little better, at least, in terms of employment itself,” Dawson said.
Seasonally adjusted employment actually grew in 17 of 25 WNC counties, an improvement over January when 24 of 25 counties experienced losses, the report states.
Unemployment, however, remained high in WNC, with the rate at 11.6 percent. North Carolina’s unemployment rate was 10.7 percent, while the nation’s stood at 8.1.
Although the Asheville Metropolitan Area — which includes Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties — has reached record lows in employment, the decline in jobs has not been as dramatic in recent months as in mid-2008, said Tom Tveidt, director of research for the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.
“There’s not as big of a falling-off as there was before, and even though we’re still seeing reductions, they’re not as hard,” Tveidt said.
“I think, generally speaking, even at the national level, it is probably viewed that the last few months of last year and into January and February were probably the worst of the recession, and there are some signs nationwide that things are improving, and at least we’re not in the free fall we were in,” Dawson said.
Source: Asheville Citizen Times
