-newsobserver.com
North Carolina is expected to gain jobs in 2010, the first year of projected job growth since the recession wiped out more than 250,000 jobs from the state’s economy.
As companies begin to announce their hiring plans for the year, more than 2,000 jobs have already been announced in the Triangle and Charlotte areas, spanning finance, banking, technology, health care and even some manufacturing - sectors that reflect the traditional economic powerhouses of the state.
The hiring plans represent only a fraction of the new jobs expected. Economists predict that the state could generate as many as 45,000 new jobs next year. Many businesses have little choice but to rebuild staffs; they are running lean operations that can’t handle more demand. “They will not be able to produce more with the jobs they have,” said economist Mike Walden of N.C. State University.
Temporary hiring, often one of the early signs of economic resurgence, is recovering. This month, the national staffing firm Manpower projected an uptick in hiring in the first three months of 2010 by companies in Raleigh and Charlotte. It’s the first hiring increase Manpower has predicted in three years. The greatest hiring would be by companies in information technology, hospitality and the manufacturing of nondurable goods such as food and fabric.
In addition, the federal government will inject some short-term adrenaline into the state’s anemic economy and provide temporary employment for tens of thousands of people.
About $9 billion in federal stimulus funds are designated for this state, which is expected to translate into 105,000 temporary jobs over three years. Stimulus funds will create jobs in energy efficiency programs, building design upgrades, drinking water system improvements, public safety and transportation infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau is filling 24,000 openings throughout the state, mostly as door-to-door census takers. The Census Bureau has hired hundreds of managers, supervisors and others to run the census next year.
All that hiring won’t make up for the jobs lost in 2009. Nor is it expected to push the state’s unemployment rate below 10 percent. For that to happen, more small businesses will need to expand; something few have been able to do as banks have been reluctant to lend money.
Still, the recent spate of job announcements by high-profile corporations suggests that the economy is slowlyreviving.
Credit Suisse announced plans to hire 300 in Research Triangle Park, mostly in information technology for a new customer support center.
Cree, the energy-efficient light company in Durham, is planning to hire 575 people over three years to meet product demand from China.
Deutsche Bank is in the midst of a 320-job expansion in the Triangle.
In Charlotte, AB Electrolux plans to hire more than 700 people over five years for its new North American headquarters.
Maiden, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte, will be home to a $1 billion Apple computer data center that will employ 50 people but is expected to create hundreds of indirect jobs.
News researchers Denise Jones and Lamara Williams contributed to this report.