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4 <br /> <br />Figure 3. Annual Residential Building Permits, North Carolina, 2004-2017. <br /> <br />Source: U.S. Census Bureau. <br /> <br /> <br />Statewide Labor Market Trends <br /> Figure 4 shows annual payroll job growth rates for North Carolina and the U.S. from <br />2010 through 2017. In all but one year (2011), North Carolina’s growth has exceeded national <br />growth, and this pattern continued in 2017. <br />However, the pace of job growth slackened in 2017, after hitting a peak in 2015. The <br />slowing pace of job growth is a typical pattern as economic recoveries age. More easily <br />employable individuals with marketable skills are initially hired as the economy expands. As <br />recoveries mature, more of the unemployed are less qualified for available work, thereby slowing <br />the pace of hiring. <br /> Each of the three major unemployment rates continued to drop in 2017 in both North <br />Carolina and the nation (Figure 5). The “headline” rate only counts an individual as unemployed <br />if she or he has no job, desires a job, and has actively looked for a job in the past month. The <br />“U5” measure only requires an individual to not have a job and to want a job in order to be <br />categorized as unemployed. The “U6” rate is the broadest measure of unemployment, including <br />those counted as unemployed by the “U5” rate as well as those individuals working part-time <br />only because full-time work cannot be found. <br /> <br /> <br />0 <br />10000 <br />20000 <br />30000 <br />40000 <br />50000 <br />60000 <br />70000 <br />80000 <br />90000 <br />100000 <br />2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2020 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 <br /># <br />10