THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150353
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Raleigh's job-growth rate is expected to be the best in the Southeast over the next two years, and second in the country behind Tuscan, Ariz., The Wall Street Journal reported today.
In addition, the Triangle - Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill - will rank No. 1 in nonfactory-employment growth over the next two years, according to a study to be released next week by DRI/McGraw-Hill of Lexington, Mass.
The study projects a 3.3 percent job-growth rate in Raleigh over the next two years, while the job-growth rate in Charlotte is expected to increase by 2.2 percent - 3rd in the Southeast and 31st in the country.
Raleigh's higher ranking in the region and the country - up from 3rd and 23rd respectively - can be attributed to a decline throughout the rest of the country, and to more computer-software makers and other high-wage employers turning to the area.
High-tech heavyweights that are already there - such as IBM - will draw retailers such as Lord & Taylor, which recently selected Raleigh for its first North Carolina store.
But one problem is not expected to go away: Retail and other service-sector wages are too low to attract enough newcomers to fill them, which may scare off new employers.
The report ranks Atlanta as the region's second-hottest metro area, followed by Charlotte.
Charlotte is trying to ``shed its dependence on the declining traditional manufacturing industries,'' such as textiles and apparel, said Sara Johnson, DRI/McGraw Hill's chief regional economist.
The report also notes that widespread weaknesses in industries ranging from transportation to utilities caused 1995 to end ``with a whimper'' for Charlotte.
But the report says the city is an emerging high-wage financial-services center, with two of the nation's biggest banks and a growing cluster of large insurance companies. The booming trade and service sectors will create 67,000 new jobs over the next five years, while average annual wages increase from $28,7000 to $34,600, the report predicts.
On the down side, the report says areas like Greensboro, which are dependent on manufacturing, are vulnerable to downturns.
Greensboro is ranked No. 11 in the Southeast and No. 62 in the country over the next two years with a job-growth rate of 1.7 percent, down from 2.3 percent over the last two years.
The report attributes the decline to an economy that has the nation's third-heaviest concentration on manufacturing. Conversely, it has the lowest density of high-tech firms among the 114 U.S. metro areas surveyed.
The area, however, will sustain job growth barely above the national average mainly on the strength of its location - midway between Atlanta and Washington - and surging service sector, led by a nationally ranked medical research and treatment center in Winston-Salem. by CNB