South by North Strategies’ analysis of state employment conditions in April was featured in a number of media outlets.
Last Friday, John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd. discussed the latest national employment report on WPTF-News Radio 680′s ”North Carolina Evening News” broadcast.
A number of media outlets recently have featured the research and perspective of South by North Strategies, Ltd.
The current issue of The Carrboro (NC) Citizen contains a profile of John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd. The piece discusses Qunterno’s background, the firm’s work, and economic conditions in the Research Triangle. Below is an excerpt from the article:
So what does Quinterno think about the unemployment situation in Orange County? “Our unemployment rate is probably at one of the highest levels that’s been recorded in the last 25 to 30 years, and it’s about 6 percent, maybe a little bit under. That’s a level most places would aspire to even under the best of circumstances. I’m not trying to minimize the fact that it’s severe here, by our relative standards. But the fact is that even though it’s bad here now by historical standards, it’s still pretty good in the grand scheme of things.”
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But he warns that if state governments don’t get federal aid in balancing their budgets this year, there could be more painful job losses in the state workforce, and that could have local effects.
Two weekend news stories about North Carolina’s economy featured the research of South by North Strategies, Ltd.
From a story in The Winston-Salem Journal about President Obama’s recent visit to North Carolina …
Although the job market has stabilized in recent months, unemployment has settled at an extremely high level,” said John Quinterno, a principal at South by North Strategies Ltd., a research company focused on economic and social policy. “Such high levels of unemployment and long-term unemployment are limiting the speed and strength of the recovery,” Quinterno said.
From a story in The Charlotte Observer about falling wages in Mecklenburg County …
“A lot of folks are essentially losing ground,” said John Quinterno of South by North Strategies Ltd., a Chapel Hill economic research firm. “We’re in a situation now where we have such high levels of unemployment. That really tends to put a brake on wages.”
Over the weekend, The Charlotte Observer reported on possible paths of economic recovery. The report contained the perspective of John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd.
Despite some hopeful signs, the Charlotte area’s economy won’t outpace unemployment anytime soon, economists warn.
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Some jobs are gone forever, and those that will replace them could leave the region’s lowest-skilled and least-educated workers struggling to catch up, experts say.
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“The question is, are growth levels adequate enough to get us out of the hole we’re in?It doesn’t look like it,” said John Quinterno of South by North Strategies Ltd., a Chapel Hill economic research firm.
A front-page story in Sunday’s issue of The New York Times looks at the potential human toll of slow economic growth. Especially hard hit will be individuals who have or will fall out of the middle class, yet current social insurance systems are unprepared to accommodate the growing numbers of long-term unemployed. From the article:
“We have a work-based safety net without any work,” said Timothy M. Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “People with more education and skills will probably figure something out once the economy picks up. It’s the ones with less education and skills: that’s the new poor.”
In the February issue of Business North Carolina, editor Ed Martin explores what a “jobless recovery” would mean for the state’s labor force. The story features the perspective of John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd.
Said Quinterno of the human consequences of a jobless recovery:
“There are a variety of consequences for employees. It injects a lot more uncertainty into their lives — and financial instability. Income swings more wildly. If the spouse has to go to work, there’s the compound issue of child care. Even in a relatively skilled field now, you don’t have much employment or financial security, so that can put a strain on the economy and growth in demand.”
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Fear becomes a factor. “If people are afraid, they’re not going to eat out once a week or go to the movies or write that check to the United Way,” Quinterno says. “It ripples out to the larger economy. If you’re talking about jobless recovery, firms are going to want to add labor when they have the opportunity to sell more goods and services, but they can’t if there’s not much demand for them.”
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