The economy has been on a downward slide and unemployment is sharply on the rise, especially in North Carolina, and students are feeling its effects.
According to the United States Department of Labor, North Carolina ranks 46 out of the 51 states with an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. That number is almost double what it was in 2004 when it was 5.9 percent, and over triple the number ten years ago when North Carolina saw an all time low 3.1 percent unemployment rate. The state is approaching the highest rate its ever had which was 10.2 percent in February 1983.
“The numbers in North Carolina may be so high because of how successful we [have] been in recent years,”Douglas Pearce, department head in economics at NCSU said.
“[North Carolina] had been the fastest growing area as of July 2008,” Pearce said. “When you’re growing fast that usually means you have a large construction industry, and they’ve been hit hard everywhere. When that drops off quickly it’ll impact unemployment at a higher rate than some others.”
Pearce also said North Carolina’s unemployment may be so high because of our large financial sector, since those are failing around the country. People look to the state to fix these problems, but Pearce said there’s not a lot they can do.
“The policies of the federal government and federal reserve are much more important than anything the state governments can do,” he said. “The state has to run a balanced budget, so it doesn’t have the flexibility the federal government has to raise spending and cut taxes.”
Students are feeling the crunch of rising unemployment, and in many cases it is altering their plans for graduation.
“School is the safest place to be right now,” Noel Keck, a senior in criminology, said. “I am going for further schooling because I don’t think the economy is going to boost anytime soon. I’ll get a small job for now until I get into graduate school or law school, and hopefully by then the economy will come around so I can plan for a steady job later.”
John Potts, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, echoed Keck’s sentiments.
“[The economy] is not good. You might as well tough it out for a few more years until you can maximize your potential when you graduate,” Potts said. “Stay and work on another degree or minor, it’ll help strengthen your resume while you wait for the economy to improve. Otherwise graduates may have to be willing to start at a lower entry level position than usual.”
Kathy Gore, a senior lecturer in the parks, recreation and tourism management program, teaches a senior capstone class that prepares seniors for graduation and job preparation. She said she has seen major effects of the rise in unemployment.
“It’s affecting us greatly. For the first time I’m telling my students not to focus only on their abilities and marketability, but also on transferability of skills to other areas because they might not be able to get the jobs they want,” Gore said. “People aren’t retiring like they would have before, and the jobs openings we thought would be there aren’t. On top of all that we have hiring freezes all over the place.”
According to NC.gov, the White House is expecting the $6.1 billion North Carolina is receiving as part of the stimulus package to create or save 105,000 jobs.
“It’s not all doom and gloom,” Gore said.
Pearce agreed that optimism is key.
“The thing to remember is we’ve had recessions before and we will again. This one seems to be almost as bad as in 1980-1982, but the economy and stock market will recover,” he said. “It can be hard sometimes to remember that we’ve gotten through these bad times before and not be pessimistic.”
