It's been a long time since any North Carolina political leaders bragged about a monthly employment report, and no wonder.
The latest tally, out today, shows the unemployment rate at 5.7 percent, the same as a year ago and higher than the national figure of 5.0 percent. While the national economy added 271,000 jobs in October, North Carolina's lost 3,100.
The number would have looked worse for the state but for a gain of 6,400 government jobs. Private sector employment actually fell by 9,500 jobs, according to the report.
From a year ago, employment is up 91,000 in North Carolina. That's positive. But the pace of job growth certainly has slowed in recent months.
“Through the first ten months of 2015, North Carolina has gained 62,400 more payroll jobs than it has lost,” said John Quinterno, a principal with South by North Strategies, Ltd., a research firm specializing in economic and social policy. “For comparison, the corresponding figure in 2014 was a gain of 81,600 jobs."
When job growth was more robust, and North Carolina's unemployment rate dropped below the national rate, leaders said their "pro-growth policies" — cutting taxes and regulations — were responsible.
That could be part of the reason. But, if so, you'd expect to see a continuation of that growth, at least keeping pace with national trends. But we haven't seen that.
So, if these "pro-growth policies" are working — which is uncertain — something else must be happening to hamper their effect. What?
That's where you get into conjecture. Are conservative social policies turning off progressive employers? Is it a lack of public investment in education and infrastructure? Or is North Carolina's still-significant reliance on its manufacturing sector hurting at a time when manufacturing hasn't really bounced back? Are our many depressed small towns and rural areas turning into a significant economic drag?
Or maybe the "pro-growth policies" weren't the right answer in the first place.
We certainly need more than political slogans to give us the answers.
