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Ten Years After The Great Recession, How Does NC Fare?

North Carolina has rebounded from the recession. But a new report shows some residents are left behind.
North Carolina has rebounded from the recession. But a new report shows some residents are left behind.

Ten years after the Great Recession North Carolina’s economy is back on its feet by many measures. Rates of employment are up, and the hard-hit manufacturing sector has been superseded by a growing tech and professional services industry.

Frank Stasio speaks with Patrick McHugh, author of new report from the Budget and Tax Center and Wizdom Powell, director of the University of Connecticut’s Health Disparities Institute about how North Carolina is faring ten years after The Great Recession. But according to a new report from the Budget and Tax Center, a project of the left-leaning North Carolina Justice Center, a number of economic inequalities still persist in North Carolina, and many of them are amplified in communities of color.

Patrick McHugh of the Budget and Tax Center authored the report and speaks with Frank Stasio about his prescription for economic equality. Stasio also speaks with Wizdom Powell, director of the University of Connecticut’s Health Disparities Institute about the effect of economic downturn on physical and mental health, especially for communities of color.

Copyright 2018 North Carolina Public Radio

Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.