Tag: Unemployment

Prosperity Watch: State job creation lags nation, but gap beginning to close

March 21, 2013 at 8:30 amCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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Earlier this week, the N.C. Division of Employment Security released the latest jobs numbers for January, and unsurprisingly, North Carolina’s labor market is continuing to struggle. As the latest issue of Prosperity Watch makes clear, the state’s employment recovery is still lagging the national average, and despite slowly beginning to close this gap, much work remains to provide adequate employment opportunities for North Carolina’s workers.  See the latest Prosperity Watch for details.

 

Three Questions About the MetLife Deal That Need Answers

March 8, 2013 at 4:34 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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The big news on the jobs front the past couple days has been the announcement by Governor Pat McCrory that insurance giant MetLife has agreed to make a new $126 million investment in two North Carolina locations, resulting in the creation of 2,600 jobs.

While the news of any job creation is good news when the state’s unemployment rate is over 9 percent, the price tag attached to these jobs is causing a bit of sticker shock. The deal involves providing $87 million in Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) incentives to MetLife over the next 12 years—the largest discretionary incentive package North Carolina has ever offered from this program.

Given North Carolina’s tight state budget and persistently high unemployment, the public needs to know as much as possible about the real costs and benefits of the deal—and whether it’s really worth $87 million in taxpayer dollars, or about $33,000 per job.

To that end, here are three questions about the MetLife deal that need answers:

Question #1—How many jobs will go to North Carolina residents? While MetLife has promised to create 2,600 jobs, how many of these employment opportunities will be open to people already living in North Carolina, and how many will be filled by moving the company’s current employees from other locations in California and New England? At a cost of $33,000 per job, it’s hard to understand the justification behind simply providing taxpayer subsidies to cover the relocation expenses of out-of-state residents, unless the overwhelming majority of these new jobs can be filled with North Carolina residents.

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States with Personal Income Taxes Still Outperforming States without Such a Tax

March 7, 2013 at 11:17 amCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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A 2013 report released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) updates analysis showing that states that levy a personal income tax are experiencing conditions on par with, if not better than, states with no personal income tax. One of the central claims from proponents of cutting or repealing the state personal income tax is that states without a personal income tax outperform states with such a tax. The ITEP report highlights that this claim is not true.

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Policy Watch report: 1,000-plus poor families at risk of losing child care

March 1, 2013 at 8:52 amCategory:Uncategorized

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So you know the right-wing-talk radio-NC General Assembly leadership talking point  by now: “Unemployed North Carolinians don’t need unemployment insurance or other safety net programs; they just need to get out there and get a job! If people would just suck it up like people did in the good ol’ days, we wouldn’t have 9% unemployment in this state.”

There are so many offensive and absurd implications of this “argument” that it’s hard to know where to begin in responding to it. One obvious place, however, is this:

What about the kids?

How does a person with young children at home go about taking on just any low-wage, hamburger-flipping job? Amazing as it many seem to folks on Right-Wing Avenue, not every parent of young children has a grandparent hanging around waiting to help raise their kids for free. These people need affordable child care.

Sadly, this obvious truth that long ago dawned on the leaders of most of the world’s industrialized nations still escapes the corporate conservatives who dominate American government. For a case in point, check out NC Policy Watch reporter Sarah Ovaska’s story this morning over on the main PW site.  As Sarah reports, Read More…

Report highlights that taxes and spending are not out of line in North Carolina

February 25, 2013 at 1:42 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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A report released by the Program Evaluation Division within the NC General Assembly highlights that North Carolina ranks in the middle of the pack, or better, among states for various taxes and spending metrics. For FY2009-10, metrics for which North Carolina ranked in the top half of states include:

  • Per capita state expenditures (12th lowest among states);
  • Per capita state and local taxes (17th lowest among states);
  • State and local taxes as a percentage of personal income (23rd lowest among states); and
  • Per capita state taxes (24th lowest among states).

These rankings disprove the claim that state spending and taxes in North Carolina are out of line. Our state ranks in the middle of the pack or on the lower end among states. Read More…