Vol. 29 No. 2, February 2009
Index
- Hard times.
- NCtrend.
- Stockwatch.
- Signing up for unions.
- The best-laid plans of governors.
- "I've been very honest with everybody: who knows what we'll have to do?" Gov. Beverly Perdue takes office amid a budget crisis and one of the weakest economies since the Depression.
- What a piece of work is man; but it's getting hard to fit tightly in a job as recession flattens the payrolls of many North Carolina companies.
- Forward thinking.
- Caught in the money PIT; the federal government struggles to yank banks out of the hole it dug and then let them fall into.
- It's an ill wind that blows: as the economy winds down, the cost to business for providing health coverage keeps spiraling up.
- Squeezing out sparks: facing tight credit and diminished demand for power, utilities see themselves between a rock and a hard place.
- Trying to make due: despite job losses, manufacturers survive by supplying the right product at the right place at the right time.
- Getting nailed by tight credit: prices of commercial construction are falling, so this is a good time to build--if you can raise the money.
- Consider the alternative: high-tech and life-science companies show their resiliency by reinventing themselves to adapt to changing markets.
- Shop till you drop: high unemployment and low consumer confidence dash chances of spending our way out of a slump.
- The road to recovery: rail and trucking tend to lead the way, but tight money could slow down needed infrastructure improvements.
- Crop busters: from feed and fertilizer to land and labor, rising costs threaten to plow profits under for this growth industry.
- Y'all come--and stay a while: the travel industry hopes lower prices at the pump will mean more heads in beds and feet under seats.
- The lay of the land: to survey the economy across the state, we measure ups and downs in each county and its largest cities.
- Largest cities.