North Carolina businesses get flexibility with E-Verify

E-Verify, and it’s supposed to prevent illegal immigrants from getting jobs. But there is an exemption stating that seasonal, temporary employees don’t have to be cleared through that system in North Carolina, so long as they work fewer than three months a year. It’s claimed this helps farmers, who N.C. Farm Bureau President Larry Wooten…

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North Carolina passes background check requirement for welfare applicants

Texas lawmakers enacted a similar regulation. The North Carolina bill passed last week requires all social services employees to perform background checks to screen welfare and food stamp applicants with outstanding arrest warrants and other active violations. Social services employees would have to report applicants to law enforcement. The bill, proposed by Republican Dean Arp,…

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North Carolina business owners weighing up economy

The Pittsburgh-based bank surveyed a sample of businesses across the state in late summer. The study shows only 15% of the respondents are optimistic about their company’s prospects over the next six months, down from 22% in the spring. About 23% said they are pessimistic about the next six months, up from 20% in the…

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North Carolina unemployment holds steady in May

So what caused the job losses? One economist told ABC11 it’s partially because of the manufacturing sector, which hasn’t bounced back like other industries in other states. Manufacturing makes up 23 percent of the North Carolina’s economy. The national average is 13 percent. Rick Henderson with the conservative John Locke Foundation pointed out that while…

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North Carolina employment down in last decade

new report from consulting firm South By North Strategies. In our contrasting post earlier this week, which discussed how employment has increased since the new year, we mentioned how January saw a big jump in job creation across America. Nonetheless, it seems that recent increases remain small when considering the bigger picture. Even though North Carolina’s…

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Henderson County optimistic for 2012 jobs

Henderson County has weathered stormy periods with unemployment in the four years since the recession hit, but there is hope that 2012 may show improvement. In January 2008, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percent as reported by the N.C. Department of Commerce Division of Employment Security, formerly the N.C. Employment Security Commission. But the…

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Employment in North Carolina in trouble

remain high, things are looking bleak for a lot of people. The N.C. Budget and Tax Center reports that more 500,000 jobs would have to be created in North Carolina to bring the state back pre-recession employment levels. Almost half the unemployed workers nationwide have been looking for a job for more than six months.…

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Rural North Carolina hit hardest by down economy

new unemployment data released by the N.C. Employment Security Commission last week—and worse may be coming as spending cuts in the recently passed state budget slowly phase in over the coming months. The above table shows the hardest hit areas – with the key indicating that the average rural unemployment rate is 1% higher than…

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