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ResearchIn this category, you'll find reports, articles and academic research that deal with economic, demographic and policy issues that impact western North Carolina.
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 The NC Employment Security Commission recently released employment data for the state covering the month of October 2008 - and the news is grim. Over 10,000 jobs have been lost in the region since January, with one-fourth of those losses coming in the last month alone. Unemployment stands at 7.0% for the state compared to 6.5% for the nation. The national rate has continued to worsen, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, increasing to 6.7% for November. In terms of regions within North Carolina, the hardest hit is the Charlotte area with October unemployment rates near 7.3%, compared to 6.5% for western North Carolina. Raleigh and the Research Triangle seem to be the least affected, posting a 5.6% unemployment rate for the same time period.
From the perspective of our region, it is particularly interesting to see the way in which individual counties in western NC are being affected - the job losses are not hitting each of the 23 counties equally; there is a tremendous amount of county-specific variation.
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 The Federal Reserve branch of Richmond just released their most recent Beige Book. For those who haven't used the Beige Book before, it is a collection of anecdotal evidence about the state ofd the regional economy, compiled by Federal Reserve employees through interviews with their primary business and industry contacts. The Federal Reserve of Richmond covers the states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The news is predictably grim with bad news for many sectors - especially manufacturing, housing and real estate.
- Access the Beige Book.
- Download the most recent (December 15 '08) Fed NC Economic "Snapshot" (pdf).
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 Dean Ron Johnson of the College of Business at Western Carolina University has written a comprehensive report outlining future economic conditions for the United States in general - and the state of North Carolina in particular.
- How deep and how long will the recession be?
- What types of stimuli are best suited to speed up recovery?
- How do we break the feedback loop between financial markets and the real economy?
- How large will the North Carolina budget shortfall be?
These questions and more are answered in this illustrated report, available here in PDF format. For more information on the origins of the current economic crisis, please visit out Issue Briefs section under the "Media" tab. |
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 This 2006 report, written by Dr. Robert Mulligan of Western Carolina University, seeks to provide a deeper and more meaningful analysis of economic conditions in western North Carolina. The report utilizes the methodology of the United Nations Human Development Report and tabulates a single numerical score for each North Carolina county (between 0.00 at the lowest and 1.00 at the highest) that combines results in the areas of income, education and health. NCHDIs provide a measure of relative, though not absolute, local economic development and allow observation of the distribution of development throughout the state. Of the 23 AdvantageWest counties: Swain, Graham and McDowell were in the lowest quartile while Rutherford, Macon, Cherokee and Mitchell were in the next-lowest quartile.
The Report can be downloaded in PDF form here. To obtain a printed copy, email
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 The 2008 Regional Outlook Report has been released by the Institute for the Economy and the Future (IEF) and Western Carolina University. Written by Dr. Kathleen Brennan; Dr. Chris Cooper and Dr. Inhyuck "Steve" Ha, the Report provides a comprehensive overview of western North Carolina's major economic, social and political issues and trends. It is intended to help decision-makers and residents make informed choices about the region, based on recent data. The Report is further sub-divided into two primary sections: a public opinion section based on a recent opinion poll and an economic trend section based on an aggregation of federal, state and local data.
The Report can be downloaded in PDF form here. To obtain a printed copy, email
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On February 25, 2009 Daniel Ostergaard, Director of the Institute for the Economy and the Future at Western Carolina University, spoke at the 2009 Industrial Executives Forum in Henderson County. The topic: "The Economy of Western North Carolina: Charting a Course for Your Business".