Charlotte hiring expected to pick up
Plus: Checking in on nondiscrimination ordinance; County mask mandate could end by Thanksgiving; Future of Uptown Cabaret and Midnight Diner; New Yorkers take over Charlotte
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Falling Covid numbers could boost local employment to pre-pandemic levels; finance and construction strong but hospitality not so much
Several sectors of Charlotte’s economy, including construction, have gained jobs since the start of the pandemic, but overall job numbers in the region are still lower than in February 2020. (Photo by Kevin Young/The 5 and 2 Project)
by Tony Mecia
The number of people working in Charlotte area still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels — but economists say it could pretty soon.
This summer’s Covid resurgence led many companies to hold off on hiring, and the number of local employed people has stayed flat in recent months. But with Covid now apparently on the decline and the holiday season approaching, economists say they expect hiring to take off again.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that if we continue with these better trends with fewer cases, that we will see some pickup, especially at the holiday season,” said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State University, in an interview with The Ledger.
On Friday, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 531,000 jobs in October, the biggest gain in three months. Major stock indexes hit new records after the news.
Charlotte-area job figures for October won’t be available for a few weeks. But Labor Department data shows the region has recovered about 80% of jobs lost in the first two months of the pandemic, although most of that took place by late last year.
Employment in the Charlotte area fell by 160,000 jobs between February and April 2020. As of September 2021, the number of people working locally — 1,226,900 — is down by just 32,000 from the February 2020 peak.
The Charlotte area lost 160,000 jobs in the first few months of the pandemic, but it recovered a majority of them by the end of last year. Hiring has been flatter since then, but economists say it could start to increase again. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The numbers vary by industry. In the Charlotte area, finance, construction and professional services have more jobs than they did at the start of the pandemic. The manufacturing, hospitality and retail sectors have fewer:
Charlotte-area employment, September 2021, with % change since February 2020:
Finance: 112,300, +4%
Construction: 70,800, +2%
Professional services: 219,200, +2%
Trade, Transportation, Utilities: 250,000, (no change)
Retail: 122,300, -4%
Government: 153,300, -4%
Manufacturing: 102,100, -6%
Hospitality: 127,300, -10%
Some employers say they have had a tough time adding workers. In some cases, enhanced government benefits made the prospect of taking jobs undesirable, companies say. And some workers have changed careers, leaving the pool of available employees in some industries diminished.
“Many people feel that if they have a cushion, they don’t need to rush back into the labor force,” Walden says. “And you do have that effect of people who were working at jobs and they don’t want to work in those jobs anymore, and they have moved elsewhere.”
Related Ledger article:
“Tales from Charlotte’s tight job market” (May 19, 🔒)
Today’s secondary sponsors are Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews…
… and T.R. Lawing Realty:
Five weeks in, no complaints yet under city’s new nondiscrimination ordinance
The first part of Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance, which the City Council adopted unanimously in August, took effect on Oct. 1. It outlawed public businesses in the city from discriminating against customers on the basis of familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, pregnancy, natural hairstyle or disability. People who believe a business discriminated against them can now file a complaint with the city.
But in the five weeks that the expanded ordinance has been in effect, nobody has filed a complaint, according to Willie Ratchford, executive director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Department, which handles complaints. “No complaints to date,” he wrote The Ledger in an email last week, after we asked for an update on how enforcement of the new ordinance is going.
Ratchford told us in August that the number of complaints was going to be hard to predict: “Adding seven new protected classes, it stands to reason there might be additional complaints. How many is hard to say,” he said at the time.
Similar protections against employment discrimination take effect Jan. 1. —TM
Related Ledger articles:
“Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance: Less than meets the eye?” (July 28)
“How Charlotte’s new nondiscrimination ordinance will be enforced” (Aug. 27)
Mask mandate off by Thanksgiving?
Mecklenburg County’s improving Covid numbers could result in the county mask mandate being dropped perhaps as soon as Thanksgiving week.
Data released Friday shows that the percentage of positive Covid tests were 4.9% on Tuesday and 2.7% on Wednesday. New rules passed by county commissioners last week say the mask mandate will come off after seven straight days of rates below 5%.
There’s been some confusion on how those days are counted — whether they’re literally seven consecutive days, or an average of seven days, and when the clock starts running.
We asked Raynard Washington, the county’s deputy health director, to clarify. He replied on Saturday:
It sounds as though the county is looking for a seven-day average below 5% for seven straight days. The county’s new order takes effect Nov. 14, and it seems as though Washington is suggesting Day 1 could come only after that. That would mean that the earliest the mandate could be dropped is a week later — Nov. 21 — provided that the testing numbers continue to fall.
Other N.C. counties with mask mandates — including Wake, Buncombe and Guilford — have been considering how to lift their requirements, too.
Still on at schools: The county’s new order still encourages people to wear masks even after it expires, and it suggests that schoolchildren would need to continue wearing masks indoors: “Schools (public, private, and parochial) will be required to follow any NC DHHS guidance on the use of face coverings.” That guidance now is for everyone inside a school setting to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. —TM
Longtime local business to relocate from uptown + ‘uptown diner’ filing for 4th & Caldwell
The Uptown Cabaret will apparently relocate from its longtime home when construction starts late next year on a new mixed-use development on the site.
A manager at the club told WSOC’s Joe Bruno that it will stay open until construction starts and then move somewhere else. A Chicago developer, Riverside Investment and Development, said last week it’s building three towers on the site of Uptown Cabaret, Midnight Diner and several surface parking lots.
Uptown Cabaret, from what we can tell in news archives, opened in the mid-1990s — before South End took off, before light rail, before the Panthers’ stadium opened in 1996. It opened before, and lasted for years after, businesses that are far more celebrated, such as South End’s Phat Burrito. As a business, it apparently does well.
‘Uptown diner’ filing: Online, among younger people, most of the concern was about the fate of Midnight Diner, which opened in 2010. A news release on Riverside’s project said the diner would relocate but didn’t provide specifics. Coincidentally, there was a filing with the city on Oct. 8 for an “uptown diner” on a parcel at 415 E. 4th St., near the intersection with Caldwell Street, by the Spectrum Center and bus station. (Hat tip to CLT Development for the heads up on that one.) The owner, Brian Dominick, also told the Biz Journal that he plans to open a second Midnight Diner location in University City in 2023.
The Uptown Cabaret/Midnight Diner land being developed also once contained the Ascot Inn, which was built in 1963 and was demolished in 2011. It boasted of “heart-shaped Jacuzzis and romantic-themed suites,” according to an eye-opening 2007 profile in Creative Loafing. —TM
In brief:
New York takeover: An analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from 2015 to 2019 shows that while “a lot of migration among the top 10 metros was to and from nearby areas, Charlotte, N.C., was different, with its main source being New Yorkers,” according to the New York Times.
Covid vaccine for kids: There were long waits for Covid vaccines on Saturday, the first weekend day the vaccine was available for children ages 5-11. (WBTV)
Library spinoff: Baker & Taylor, a supplier of printed and digital books and services to libraries, has spun off from parent company, Follett Corp. It’s based in Charlotte. (Baker & Taylor)
East Charlotte Walmart shooting: Police shot and killed a man at the Walmart on Albemarle Road in east Charlotte on Friday night. They said the man pointed a gun at officers when they arrived in response to a call that the man had threatened a store security guard. (WBTV)
Holiday flights: American Airlines plans to pay flight attendants triple for flying during peak holiday periods, according to a memo. The move is apparently to avoid widespread flight cancellations, like the ones from the end of October. (View from the Wing)
700-unit housing development: NVR Inc. of Huntersville has submitted a rezoning request that would allow 399 single-family homes and 284 townhomes on 151 acres off North Tryon Street near University City.
600-unit housing development: The Related Group has submitted a rezoning request that would allow 450 apartments and 165 townhomes on 64 acres at University City Boulevard and I-85.
Latinos and vaccinations: North Carolina’s Latino residents aged 12+ are vaccinated against Covid at a higher rate (67%) than the non-Latino population (57%). (N.C. Health News)
Council meeting: The City Council will receive updates tonight on the Centene project in University City, the proposed federal and state legislative agenda and the 2040 Plan’s policy map.
North Tryon development: Charlotte developer Flywheel Group has assembled six parcels on 19 acres on North Tryon Street and plans to turn the land into “residences, retail, restaurants and green space.” It’s a portion of North Tryon between uptown and NoDa. (Axios Charlotte)
Myers Park building purchase: Charlotte Pipe & Foundry has purchased the old Mecklenburg Furniture building on Providence Road in Myers Park. Property records show the company paid $6.75M for the 42,000 s.f. building built in 1969, which is on 1.1 acres.
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project