North Carolina’s Higher-Wage Industries Holding Steady

High-wage job sectors have proven resilient in the major North Carolina apartment markets. Job sectors including Information, Financial Activities and Professional and Business Services (occupations earning more than $70,000 per year on average) in large North Carolina markets (Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, and Greensboro/Winston-Salem) lost less than 1% of their total employment base, notably less than the 4.1% those industries shed across the U.S. in the year-ending November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, mid-wage industries (earning between $50,000 and $70,000, including Manufacturing, Construction, Education and Health Services and Government) have taken a disproportionately larger hit in North Carolina than in the nation overall. Within those industries, the most significant losses belong to the Manufacturing sector, where some 29,500 jobs have been removed, accounting for nearly 11% of that industry. The nation overall has lost a comparatively smaller 4.8% of its Manufacturing jobs. The divergence between those sectors in North Carolina partially points to the region’s decade-long evolution away from traditional Manufacturing jobs as well as the area’s ability to attract more office employment through corporate relocations.