Housing = Jobs
With the construction industry as the second largest employer in North Carolina, it can be no surprise that unemployment will be up when housing is down. The opposite is also true. When the housing market strengthens, unemployment goes down. Said differently: housing equals jobs.
Already in 2008 economists tied the health of the North Carolina economy to the strength of the housing sector. For example, Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University—while stating in his economic outlook report on December 17, 2008, that North Carolina was officially in a recession and that jobs were down—pointed to the housing market. He said, “The housing market is very down right now, so if we have an increase next year, it’s still not going to mean that the housing market is back on track. But it will mean that the market is moving in the right direction, and a recovery in the housing market will help North Carolina’s economy overall also recover.”
The NCHBA works on many fronts to strengthen housing. On the code front It works to keep unnecessary regulation from driving builders out of business. On the legislative front it encourages legislation that keeps housing affordable for the North Carolina citizens who form the backbone of our economy: the teachers, the policemen, the small business people. On the education front it works to keep its membership, the builders and remodelers of the state, at the forefront of the market by offering training opportunities for emerging trends, like Green Building, while teaching them how to survive dramatic market fluctuations. On the communication front it draws the best minds in the state together to share and pass on the wisdom and experience that has kept the building industry strong in North Carolina for the past 50 years.
Let’s all work together to bring economic recovery and jobs back to North Carolina as we find solutions to the problems that are keeping housing from being strong.
