North Carolina's productivity

One of the ways states compete for business is on the quality of their workforce. N.C. State University economist Mike Walden weighs in on how North Carolina ranks on a key workforce measure.

“Well, one very important workforce measure that employers — potential employers — look at is productivity: how productive are …our workers?  And what that translated into is what kind of output is a business going to expect to get per dollars spent on workers in … a particular state.  And on this measure, … North Carolina looks very, very, very good.  In fact, the latest data we have for 2009 shows that North Carolina ranks third among all 50 states in worker productivity.  The only two states above us were Wyoming and Louisiana.

“We are 35 percent above the national average on worker productivity.  So, this is a very, very key factor that the state has used and will continue to use in recruiting businesses. It … simply says that businesses who locate in North Carolina get a lot of value for the buck that they spend on our workers.”