North Carolina needs more jobs. And we need more, good jobs. Job creation is lagging and for every three unemployed jobseekers, there is only one available job opening. But North Carolina doesn’t just need any jobs; it needs good, quality jobs. Over the last 20 years, our state has experienced a dramatic shift from jobs that provide a path to the middle class to an explosion of jobs in the service sector – jobs that often pay too little to lift families out of poverty, provide few if any benefits families need to get by, and lack career advancement potential.
Good jobs are jobs that allow families to maintain basic spending on necessities like food and doctor visits. Good jobs not only create a path to the middle class, they are essential for building thriving communities and economies. When profitable companies get away with paying their workers too little to afford the basics, spending slows down and our economy suffers. An economy that works for all depends on good jobs.