Raleigh is back

Local job numbers were just released, and there’s reason for those in the Raleigh area to celebrate. N.C. State University economist Mike Walden explains.

“Well … most people know that most areas — including the Raleigh/Cary metro area — lost substantial numbers of jobs during the recession. There has been a comeback, not fully in most areas, but a comeback, over the last two and a half years.

“The news for the Raleigh/Cary metro area is that this is one of the first areas in the country — and it’s indeed the first metro area in the state — to have fully recovered. That is, the latest job numbers we have from metropolitan areas in the country show that the number of jobs in the Raleigh/Cary metro area has now back to pre-recessionary levels. And that is, again, a claim that most areas cannot make.

“So, that’s very good. In comparison at the national level, we’re a little over half back in terms of total number of jobs gained.

“To give you another number: … Since the bottom of the recession, the Raleigh/Cary metro area has added 7 percent to its job base. In both the nation and the state, that comparable rate is 3 percent.

“So congratulations to the Raleigh/Cary metro area. I think this says a lot about the health, the economic health, of that region that, indeed, it has recovered all the jobs it lost during the recession.”