Latest Numbers Show Little Cause for Workers to Celebrate
Labor Day 2003; Bush Administration Policies Implicated

Raleigh – On the eve of Labor Day 2003, North Carolina workers have little cause to celebrate and much to be concerned about say researchers and worker advocates at the Raleigh-based N.C. Justice and Community Development Center. According to data compiled by the organization’s special state fiscal policy project, the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, key indicators point to continued weakness in the state’s labor market in a host of critical areas, including: unemployment rates, job losses, wage growth, and household income.

“The bottom line is that North Carolina workers are hurting,” said fiscal policy analyst, Elizabeth Jordan. “By almost any measurement, large numbers of average folks are worse off and falling further behind,” she continued. “The Pillowtex collapse is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Jordan pointed to a number of key statistics to back her claim, including:

•	State unemployment has now jumped to 6.6% with over 277,000 workers officially unemployed in July. Because the figure has averaged 6.5% over the past three months, North Carolina is now officially classified as a “high unemployment” state by federal law – thus triggering a new round of extended unemployment insurance eligibility.
•	More than 450,000 North Carolinians received unemployment benefits during the past year (July 2002 to June 2003).
•	Total state payrolls are down over 105,000 jobs since the onset of the recession in 2001.
•	Real wages grew less than 1% between 2000 and 2002. Low-wage workers have realized the smallest wage gains.
•	The most recent available data (from 1999-2001) show that state median household income was already on the decline before the recession.

According to Justice Center Executive Director Bill Rowe, these data highlight the need for changed federal policies and continued, aggressive action by state policymakers to ease the pain being felt by workers. “The Bush administration economic formula of big tax cuts for the wealthy, service cuts for low and middle income tax payers, mushrooming federal deficits and unfettered free trade is wreaking havoc with our state economy,” he stated.

“While Governor Easley and the General Assembly should be commended for what they have done to try and assist workers – especially with respect to streamlining and modernizing the state unemployment insurance system – much more is needed if we are going to prevent real hardship for hundreds of thousands of families.” Rowe said.

Rowe called on state and federal leaders to take a series of additional steps to help ease the impact of hard times, including:

•	Exploring all potential options for assuring that laid off workers retain access to health insurance benefits;
•	Giving strong consideration to expediting and targeting public works, road building and infrastructure programs that can put large numbers of people to work and inject badly need cash into hard hit communities;
•	Dramatically improving and expanding state efforts to re-train workers for modern, high-tech employment;
•	Reversing disastrous fiscal and trade policy decisions at the federal level; and
•	Ensuring that adequate safety net programs exist to help unemployed workers avoid short-term financial disaster.

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The N.C. Justice and Community Development Center is North Carolina’s preeminent anti-poverty research and advocacy organization and a leading voice for state policies that promote economic justice and fair treatment of workers. The N.C. Budget and Tax Center is a special Justice Center project that provides timely, accessible and credible research and analysis on state fiscal policies that impact vulnerable populations.