skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NC Unemployment Declines, But Not for Everyone

play audio
Play

Monday, May 19, 2014   

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina's unemployment rate continues to fall, according to data released on Friday. It's down to 6.2 percent. That's welcome news for the thousands of people who now have a job, but policy analyst Allan Freyer with the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center says based on recent jobs reports, not everyone is reaping the rewards.

"These reports make it clear that the state's economy is growing unevenly, across the state. Some regions are doing a lot better than others," Freyer says.

A recent analysis by the Center showed that North Carolina's business incentive program disproportionately allocates incentive dollars to projects in the wealthiest 20 counties in the state. Freyer also points out that, although adding 71,000 jobs in the last year, it will be another year before the state catches up to where it was before the Great Recession, at the current job-growth rate.

Freyer found that out of the $840 million granted since 2007 by the Department of Commerce, 70 percent went to the state's least-distressed counties.

"That basically means that the state is promising to create or retain two jobs in the 20 wealthiest counties in the state for every one job promised to the poorest counties in the state," he explains.

He adds it is costing the state almost twice as much in incentive dollars for each job promised in the wealthiest counties, compared to counties in more economically distressed areas. According to the Center's analysis, the incentive money has been focused in the Asheville and greater Charlotte areas, the Research Triangle and the I-40 corridor in the Triad.

The analysis is available at www.ncjustice.org.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021