New NC labor data: Delta variant and practical barriers to employment hampering job growth

Expiring Federal Unemployment Insurance benefits and other forces threaten NC’s recovery

RALEIGH (Sept. 17, 2021) —  Following a lackluster national jobs report, August labor market figures show North Carolinians are still struggling to return to the labor market. North Carolina remains nearly 109,000 jobs short of pre-COVID levels of employment, with most of the losses concentrated in industries where low wages are common.

“The Delta variant slammed the brakes on a recovery that was already puttering along in first gear,” said Patrick McHugh, Research Manager with the NC Budget & Tax Center. “With federal unemployment insurance benefits phasing out, and many people unable to rejoin the labor market because they lack child care, are legitimately terrified about getting COVID, don’t have transportation, or other issues, there are a lot of people who are going to be in real financial trouble.”

Click for charts with new labor market data

Economic challenges facing North Carolina include: 

  • Practical barriers keeping a huge number of people from rejoining the labor market: As we documented in a recent report, Census surveys conducted between April and July 2021 indicate practical barriers are keeping many North Carolinians out of the labor market:
    • Lack of child care was cited by roughly 250,000 people as the main reason they were unable to work.
    • Concerns about contracting or transmitting COVID-19 was cited as the main reason by 100,000 people, a number which may have increased since July as the Delta variant drives cases higher.
    • Lack of transportation prevented roughly 50,000 people from working
    • Providing care for an elderly person was the primary reason 50,000 people could not work.
  • More North Carolinians still looking for work: While the headline unemployment rate has declined in recent months, the recovery still has not created enough jobs for everyone who wants to work. Roughly 33,000 more North Carolinians reported looking for work in August than before the COVID-19 outbreak.

  • Worst job losses persist in many low-wage industries: The COVID-19 recession has devastated workers in some industries, while others have almost fully recovered. The largest persistent job losses since February of 2020, prior to the start of COVID-19, have occurred in industries like Accommodation and Food Service (-51,400), Education and Health Services (-33,400), and Health care and social assistance (-25,800).
  • A tale of two labor markets – high-wage recovery and low-wage recession: The headline employment figures mask a deep divide that has persisted throughout the pandemic between the job prospects in highly paid professions and lower-wage industries. Data from late July indicate that while jobs paying over $60,000 a year have increased substantially compared to pre-COVID levels, roughly 1 out of every 5 jobs paying less than $27,000 are still missing. Given that many of the good-paying jobs where growth is happening require specialized skills and experience, substantial support is needed for people who lost low-wage positions during the pandemic to access those opportunities. Many North Carolinians who were already struggling to make ends meet before COVID-19 cannot simply drop everything so they can get the training needed to access the careers where job growth is strongest.

For charts showing the most recent labor data and COVID-19 job data, visit the Budget & Tax Center’s Labor Market page at www.ncjustice.org/labormarket.

For more context on the economic choices facing North Carolina, check out the Budget & Tax Center’s Prosperity Watch report.

The nonpartisan Budget & Tax Center is a project of the NC Justice Center, which works to eliminate poverty in North Carolina by ensuring every household in the state has access to the resources, services and fair treatment it needs to achieve economic security. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Patrick McHugh, Budget & Tax Center Research Manager, at patrick.mchugh@ncjustice.org or 919-856-2183; or Mel Umbarger, Budget & Tax Center Senior Communications Specialist, at mel@ncjustice.org.