By Jefferson George
jgeorge@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2009
The N.C. economy could start to recover this summer if banks begin making more loans and the federal stimulus package puts more people to work, a UNC Charlotte economist said Tuesday.
“We're through the worst of it,” John Connaughton said of the recession. “We've probably got another couple of months before it turns around.”
That rebound, though, will be slow and won't keep North Carolina from losing more than 178,000 jobs between the start of 2008 and end of 2009, said Connaughton, author of the quarterly UNC Charlotte economic forecast.
The state lost 120,100 jobs last year and is expected to lose another 58,200 this year – a two-year total that is nearly double what Connaughton estimated just three months ago. He also gave a bleaker outlook for N.C. unemployment – which was 9.7 percent in January – saying it could peak at 11 percent at year's end.
Connaughton has been at UNC Charlotte for 30 years, and the quarterly forecast has studied state economic conditions since 1981.
Job losses cam"
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