{"id":365,"date":"2026-06-09T16:05:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=365"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:05:33","slug":"amid-solid-job-numbers-a-north-carolina-economist-sees-troubling-headwinds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=365","title":{"rendered":"Amid solid job numbers, a North Carolina economist sees troubling headwinds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kenan Institute Research Economist Sarah Dickerson characterizes the latest national as \u201csolid and steady.\u201d But if you are looking for employment this summer, Dickerson says the job market does not appear to be strengthening, either.<\/p>\n

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the May jobs report Friday, showing 172,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHiring is essentially going to be concentrated in a few sectors \u2014 healthcare, leisure and hospitality. Government jobs that were added were predominantly local government jobs,\u201d said Dickerson in a briefing with reporters. \u201cIn terms of healthcare, one reason why we\u2019ve continued to see jobs concentrated in this sector has to do with our population aging, but also some of that burnout that has held over from the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickerson says while the nation\u2019s unemployment rate has held steady at 4.3% for the last two months, there\u2019s limited broad-based hiring. North Carolina\u2019s unemployment rate stands at 3.7%.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to see more of this low-hire, low-fire environment,\u201d said Dickerson.<\/p>\n

For recent college graduates, unemployment is higher than it is for all workers, aged 16 to 65. And the gap between recent college graduates and all workers is widening, according to Dickerson.<\/p>\n

AI and automation are just part of the reason, she said. Remote employers are also hiring fewer new graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemote employers may not be as eager to hire, train and mentor recent college graduates, knowing that they\u2019re going to have to go through that entire process remotely,\u201d Dickerson explained.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s backed up by a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that found unemployment among young people increased by almost one full percentage point between 2017-19 and 2022-24. Young graduates in in-person jobs saw a larger increase in unemployment at the start of the pandemic, but their job prospects returned to normal faster than those of recent graduates looking for remote jobs.<\/p>\n

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As AI gains ground, NC academics and job seekers look for an edge<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n