Charlotte jobs make a comeback
Plus: Outlook dim for liquor privatization; Bojangles pulls plug on drive-thru-only restaurant in Cotswold; Broadway hits announced for Charlotte; Dilworth tires of road construction
Good morning! Today is Monday, March 21, 2022. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Employment in the Charlotte region has surpassed pre-Covid levels, new figures show; Faster recovery than national average
Workers have been returning to uptown Charlotte in recent weeks. The number of people employed in the Charlotte region has surpassed pre-pandemic numbers, led by growth in financial services and trade/transportation.
by Tony Mecia
The number of people working in the Charlotte region has bounced back from the depths of the pandemic, surpassing levels from February 2020, according to new data released Friday.
Revised figures from the U.S. Labor Department show that the Charlotte region had 1.26 million workers in October of last year — more than the 1.25 million in the month before the response to Covid shut down offices, closed businesses and left people hunkering down at home for weeks.
The rebound in jobs indicates that Charlotte’s economy recovered faster from the pandemic than many other places. Nationally, employment numbers still lag the number of jobs in February 2020. Charlotte returned to the number of pre-pandemic jobs faster than Asheville, Fayetteville, Greensboro and Winston-Salem but slower than Raleigh, Durham and Wilmington.
“Charlotte is, as usual, outpacing national trends when it comes to employment recovery,” said Chuck McShane, director of market analytics for real estate information service CoStar.
The number of jobs in the Charlotte region surpassed February 2020 levels in October 2021, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. The number of jobs dipped in January of this year as Covid cases spiked, but it is expected to recover again.
But the recovery hasn’t been even across industries. McShane’s analysis of the numbers shows that leisure and hospitality jobs remain down by about 13,000, or 9%, compared with pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, other sectors have surged, such as trade and transportation and financial activities.
Change in Charlotte-area employment from February 2020 to December 2021 (Source: CoStar):
Trade/Transportation/Utilities: +29,000, +11.6%
Financial Activities: +6,800, +6.3%
Professional and Business Services: +6,500, +3%
Mining/Construction: +1,700, +2.5%
Information: +400, +1.6%
Education and Health Services: +1,000, +0.8%
Government: -3,000, -1.9%
Manufacturing: -2,200, -2%
Leisure and Hospitality: -12,700 -9%
TOTAL: +28,100, +2.2%
In addition to a labor crunch, Charlotte tourism jobs are down because the city relies more than others on business travel, which still hasn’t recovered, McShane says.
There are signs the economy might be cooling off, though, with higher prices of fuel and food and rising interest rates. Economists have been cutting their growth forecasts for the rest of this year, and some say the odds of a recession are increasing. —TM
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Don’t expect liquor privatization or marijuana reform this year, House speaker says
If you thought that North Carolina’s recent troubles keeping liquor stocked on ABC Store shelves would prompt a push toward privatizing the state’s liquor sales, think again.
N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, whose support is crucial to getting anything through the General Assembly, says not to expect any big movement on that topic in the legislature this year.
In an interview published last week in the N.C. Tribune, Moore said that while he is concerned about the “breakdown in the delivery system for alcohol,” he has “mixed feelings” about privatization because of the effect it might have on local government revenues and teenage drinking.
“There’s no easy answer on it,” he said. “It’s going to be something that will really require a lot of folks to be involved. … It’s something that’s going to take a little while to get there.”
Other Republicans have suggested that the time might be ripe to re-examine how North Carolina sells liquor. It is one of 17 states in which the state government controls liquor distribution. Since last summer, shelves at ABC Stores have been more bare than usual, in part because of troubles with a new statewide ordering system implemented by a vendor, but also because of production, shipping and labor issues that affect other parts of the economy.
A 2019 report by the General Assembly found that North Carolina has the highest liquor taxes and fewest liquor stores per capita in the Southeast and suggested a way forward, but the idea went nowhere. The same year, a statewide poll found support of privatization by a 52%-32% margin.
At a Mecklenburg ABC board meeting last week, officials said they are making progress keeping the shelves stocked, and they’re close to implementing a new system that gives them better visibility into inventories at each store.
Marijuana outlook: In the interview with the N.C. Tribune, Moore also said he doesn’t foresee legalizing marijuana for medical purposes this year — an issue that gained some traction last year. North Carolina is one of 12 states where medical marijuana remains illegal. “Right now, I don’t see the votes there for that,” Moore said. —TM
Tired of road construction in Dilworth
A city project to replace storm drains at Morehead and McDowell streets in Dilworth is ongoing — to the chagrin of some residents and businesses near the construction. A sign in front of Dilworth Neighborhood Grille reads “Free Party for Road Crew if Finished by 9/1/22.” A city website devoted to the project anticipates completion by “late 2022.” Matt Wolhfarth, owner of Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, told WSOC: “If you concentrate on how bad it is, it is just going to get worse. You bring something that brings a little humor to it, maybe a little hope, it might work.”
So much for Bojangles’ drive-thru-only idea in Cotswold
Bojangles, which had planned on building a new restaurant in Cotswold with no dining room, has switched gears and now says it will keep the dining room after all.
In July, the fast-food chicken giant had submitted plans and renderings to the city for a rezoning that would allow the site to be drive-thru only. The area often suffers from congestion, as cars waiting to order at the Chick-fil-A next door routinely spill out onto Randolph Road.
But Bojangles has withdrawn that application. Spokeswoman Stacey McCray tells The Ledger: “We’ve decided to renovate the Randolph Rd. location and keep the dining room and drive-thru with a fresh new look our customers will enjoy.” She said there was no timeline for the renovation. The store has been closed for several months.
She didn’t provide a reason. Other rezonings in Charlotte involving drive-thrus have come under fire in recent months, as some planners say they encourage a car-centric lifestyle.
Better traffic by Chick-fil-A? A rezoning application for the Chick-fil-A next door, which is proposing a new building with no indoor seating, is still moving forward. The Charlotte Department of Transportation has suggested some changes that could help ease some of the traffic from the site, such as extending a median that would prevent left turns into and out of the Chick-fil-A, eliminating a driveway and extending drive-thru lines that would take some cars off Randolph Road. —TM
Ledger reader ‘BarbiJ’ leads NCAA bracket contest 🏀
Our first-ever NCAA bracket contest rolls on, with more than 100 entries competing for dazzling prizes such as Harris Teeter and gas gift cards, Ledger memberships and stylish Ledger pens.
After the first weekend of play, it’s BarbiJ in the lead, followed closely by SteveHayes#7 and cjeet2007(2). Still plenty of basketball to be played. Good luck to all! —TM
Correction
An article in Friday’s newsletter about a controversial City Council rezoning vote misstated the comments made at a meeting by the Zoning Committee chair Keba Samuel. At the meeting, Samuel said that sending the issue back to the Zoning Committee would not be likely to change its recommendation in favor of the apartment/retail project in NoDa. (She did not say sending it back to the committee was unnecessary.) In addition, the City Council routinely votes on changed rezoning petitions without sending them back to the Zoning Committee. Our apologies.
In brief:
From Broadway to Charlotte: Blumenthal Performing Arts announced a lineup of Broadway favorites coming to Charlotte in the 2022-23 season, including “Les Misérables,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Chicago,” as well as newer hits “Jagged Little Pill,” “Tina—The Tina Turner Musical,” “Six,” “A Soldier’s Play” and “MJ.” Tickets are on sale as part of season ticket packages. (Blumenthal Performing Arts)
Wells under scrutiny: Senate Democrats are asking regulators to examine Wells Fargo’s mortgage refinancing policies, after a recent analysis found that the bank approved fewer than half of refinancing applications from Black applicants while approving 72% of requests from white applicants. The bank has said it complies with the law and that the difference can be explained by other factors, such as credit scores. (Reuters)
Historic landmark: The original McDonald’s Cafeteria building on Beatties Ford Road has been proposed for local historical landmark designation. The former buffet-style restaurant was a popular gathering place for Black residents for decades before closing in 2003. It’s now a JPMorgan Chase bank branch. (Observer)
Fire knocks out power in Matthews: A fire at a Duke Energy power station knocked out power to at least 8,000 people in the Matthews area on Friday morning. (WBTV)
‘Gay’ dog left at Albemarle shelter: Stanly County Animal Protective Services in Albemarle said in a Facebook post it’s looking for a home for a dog whose owners left it at the shelter “after he humped another male dog,” WCCB reported. The dog, named Fezco, is 4 or 5 years old, weighs 50 pounds and likes people and other animals, the shelter said. The story made international headlines on Sunday, with articles in London’s Daily Mail (“Ruff deal! Dog called Fezco is dumped at North Carolina shelter for being GAY”) and TMZ (“Abandoned at animal shelter — owners thought he was gay”).
CROSSWORD solution: Here’s the answer to last week’s crossword puzzle. It was a “meta” puzzle — hats off to Ledger reader Cindy Weatherman for her impressive speed in solving it. She wins a free six months of Ledger membership.
You can find all puzzles and answers on our dedicated crosswords page.
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