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In the institute's February 7 briefing, Research Fellow Greg Brown analyzed the morning's employment report and discussed how the unpredictability of changes rippling through Washington could impact the US economy.

In the institute's January 10 briefing, Chief Economist Gerald Cohen discussed the morning's employment report and shared his thoughts on some top-of-mind issues for business executives and policymakers this year.

For our December 6 economic briefing, Kenan Institute Research Director Camelia Kuhnen discussed the morning's employment report, which showed a bounce back from October's numbers, and the rise in the level of consumer confidence in recent months.

Do employment and wage growth numbers line up with consumer confidence? It's time for a confidence check with Kenan Institute Research Director Camelia Kuhnen during this month's virtual economic briefing at 9 a.m. EDT this Friday, May 3.

Join Chief Economist Gerald Cohen for the institute’s monthly virtual briefing at 9 a.m. EST this Friday, March 8, to discuss the morning's employment report and the latest economic data.

American Growth Project models project that all 150 of the top Extended Metropolitan Areas will see slower growth in 2024 than they did last year and that 56 of them will contract. See what else the data tell us.

Join us for the Kenan Institute’s monthly virtual press briefing at 9 a.m. EDT this Friday, Dec. 8, as professor and former executive director Greg Brown shares his thoughts on where inflation may be headed from here.

An advance estimate shows the U.S. economy growing nearly 5% during the third quarter. Join Research Director Camelia Kuhnen in a virtual press briefing at 9 a.m. EDT this Friday, Nov. 3, for more on this and the morning's employment report.

Join us for the Employability Skills Gap webinar on Oct. 18 at 10 a.m. Dive into the final session of ncIMPACT Initiative's 'Where are the Workers?' series for insights and discussion on workforce needs.

Labor Shortage
Mar 22, 2022

Where are the Workers?

“Every business I enter is looking for employees” was a common refrain in our Carolina Across 100 survey, with 79% of the total survey sample selecting employment/staffing concerns among their top three negative impacts of COVID-19 on their organization. Is the staffing shortage just a function of COVID-19 that will correct itself as COVID abates or are there larger demographic and economic forces at work? The answer is a bit of both.

The jumps in the inflation rate over the last few months have been larger and longer-lasting than expected.  For much of 2022 economic forecasters, including those at the Federal Reserve, assumed that higher inflation rates would be short-lived—or “transitory” using the preferred jargon of the day. Inflation was expected to start shifting back towards the Fed’s 2% target as supply-chain bottlenecks were resolved and a pandemic-induced shift in demand for consumer goods swung back toward consumer services.  Instead, recent inflation prints have set 40-year records and we are seeing more discussion about the possibility of a “wage-price” spiral. 

As we begin the new year, we wanted to highlight five topics, beyond the impact of COVID-19 and related uncertainties, that we believe businesspeople and policy makers will be grappling with in 2022. Throughout the year, we will focus our efforts to provide solutions-focused analysis on these topics as well as a host of others.