A moving target: regions with military bases didn't take as big a hit as they did during the first war with Iraq.

• Author: Richter, Chris
• Position: Regions

In early 1991, the first time the United States went to war with Iraq, the state's military towns grew quiet. As troops deployed, their families left, too, often to stay with relatives.

It was different last year, when U.S. troops went back to Iraq. More families stayed. And call-ups of National Guardsmen and reservists have kept personnel flowing through North Carolina bases, helping to keep local economies stable. "Spending has pretty much stayed the same," says Len Kulik, marketing director of North Carolina's Eastern Region, one of the state's seven economic-development partnerships and home to four military bases, including the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune.

That stability has been reflected in the unemployment rates for the regions with the largest military presence--regions that often struggle with high jobless rates. From October 2002 to October 2003, the jobless rate in the Southeast, which includes the Army's Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, dropped nine-tenths of a percentage point to 6.1%, and the Eastern Region's rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point to 6.0%. The Research Triangle's rate was the only other that fell.

The Eastern Region also has gotten a boost from several new job generators. In September, Richmond, Va.-based Universal Leaf opened a tobacco-processing plant in Nash County that employs 1,000. Novi, Mich.-based Cooper-Standard Automotive expanded its Goldsboro work force by 270 during the summer. The Southeast has attracted new jobs in smaller batches than the Eastern Region. "The jobs that are coming are with smaller companies," says Jane Smith, chairwoman of North Carolina's Southeast partnership. "Most are 50 jobs or less."

Jobless rates increased in four regions: AdvantageWest, Charlotte, the Northeast and the Piedmont Triad. Charlotte had...