Part and parcel; Here's how the pieces fit and have fared: a statistical breakdown of the state's regions, counties and cities.

• Position: BY THE NUMBERS - Economy

Forget about the rising tide raising all boats. The statewide economy improved in 2005, but it didn't get better everywhere. On the following pages, you'll see numbers that define North Carolina's economy at the state, county and municipal levels. You'll also see statistics for the state's seven economic-development partnerships.

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 UNEMPLOYMENT Jobless rates dropped in 36 counties from October 2004 to October 2005, compared with 95 the year before. The 23-county AdvantageWest partnership had the largest spread between best and worst performers. The 16-county Northeast partnership had the smallest. Change in

Change in Regional Best-performing jobless Worst-performing jobless Partnership counties rate* counties

rate* AdvantageWest Graham (1.0) Mitchell

1.5 Charlotte Rowan (1.2) Gaston 0.3 Piedmont Caswell (0.5) Surry 0.5

Triad Research Granville, (0.6) Lee

0.9 Triangle Vance Southeast Scotland (0.7)

Hoke 1.2 Eastern Pamlico (0.3)

Duplin 1.1 Region Northeast Camden (0.3)

Tyrrell, Chowan, 0.7

Washington * From October 2004 to October 2005, in percentage points Source: Employment Security Commission

ADVANTAGEWEST

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 POPULATION (000s) COUNTY 1984

1994 2004 Alleghany 9.7 9.9 10.9 Ashe

22.7 23.0 25.1 Avery 14.8 15.4

18.0 Buncombe 165.3 189.6 215.1 Burke

73.8 81.2 88.9 Caldwell 68.7 73.4 78.6 Cherokee 19.5 21.9 25.7 Clay 7.0

7.7 9.6 Graham 7.3 7.6 8.1 Haywood

47.1 49.7 56.5 Henderson 64.0 77.7

96.1 Jackson 26.7 29.5 35.6 Macon

22.5 25.7 31.8 Madison 17.0 17.8 20.2 McDowell 35.9 37.3 43.2 Mitchell 14.3

14.9 16.0 Polk 14.0 16.0 19.0 Rutherford

55.8 59.6 63.2 Swain 10.9 11.7 13.5 Transylvania 24.6 27.3 29.7 Watauga 34.6 40.0 42.9 Wilkes 59.8 61.9 67.0 Yancey

15.2 16.3 18.1 REGION 831.2 915.1 1,032.7 NORTH CAROLINA 6,164.5 7,180.5 8,541.3 Source: N.C. Office of State Budget and Management

 PER CAPITA INCOME (000s) COUNTY 1984 1994 2003 Alleghany $9.0 $17.7 $24.2 Ashe 9.0 17.0 23.7 Avery 9.0 17.9 23.0 Buncombe 11.9 20.4 27.8 Burke 10.9 18.3 23.6 Caldwell 10.7 18.1 25.5 Cherokee 8.2 13.8 19.1 Clay 8.6 15.2 21.4 Graham 7.8 13.6 21.4 Haywood 11.0 18.1 24.2 Henderson 12.8 21.5 28.1 Jackson 9.1 15.3 22.3 Macon 10.0 16.9 23.8 Madison 8.7 15.7 21.6 McDowell 9.4 17.1 21.0 Mitchell 9.7 15.3 19.7 Polk 13.3 23.9 32.2 Rutherford 10.0 17.1 22.8 Swain 7.3 13.3 19.4 Transylvania 11.6 18.8 25.2 Watauga 9.0 16.6 24.4 Wilkes 10.7 18.1 24.7 Yancey 8.0 14.9 19.9 REGION 10.6 18.3 24.7 NORTH CAROLINA 11.8 20.4 28.1 Source: N.C. Office of State Budget and Management 

 EMPLOYMENT (000s) COUNTY 1984 1994 2004 Alleghany

4.4 4.6 4.5 Ashe 9.3 10.6 11.8 Avery

7.4 6.6 7.8 Buncombe 77.8 93.2

108.7 Burke 39.3 40.9 40.3 Caldwell

34.0 38.9 37.6 Cherokee 7.2 8.5 9.2 Clay 2.5 3.1 4.2 Graham 2.0

3.7 3.4 Haywood 19.1 21.6 25.8 Henderson

28.1 33.1 43.5 Jackson 11.1 13.5

18.8 Macon 10.0 11.4 14.3 Madison

6.4 8.1 9.2 McDowell 15.2 18.4 20.0 Mitchell

6.5 5.9 6.5 Polk 5.7 7.0

8.4 Rutherford 25.2 28.7 26.7 Swain

4.5 5.0 6.3 Transylvania 10.3 10.7 11.1 Watauga 15.3 21.0 24.1 Wilkes 29.9

30.4 30.8 Yancey 6.0 6.0 7.1 REGION

377.2 430.7 473.0 NORTH CAROLINA 2,828.0 3,439.9 4,020.8 Source: Employment Security Commission

 EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY SECTOR Accommodation/food services 37,250 Administrative/waste services 14,556 Construction 22,593 Health care/social assistance 51,739 Manufacturing 74,131 Professional/technical

10,459 Retail 48,740 Wholesale

11,343 Other 55,552 Source: Employment Security Commission, 2004 Note: Table made from pie chart.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

AdvantageWest; 3 General Aviation Drive, Fletcher, NC 28732; Telephone: (828) 687-7234; Fax: (828) 687-7552; www.awnc.org

CHARLOTTE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP

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 POPULATION (000s) COUNTY 1984

1994 2004 Alexander 26.1 29.9 35.1 Anson

25.0 24.6 25.7 Cabarrus 91.3 108.6

146.6 Catawba 110.4 126.3 147.8 Cleveland

83.3 89.2 97.4 Gaston 169.0 180.8 192.0 Iredell 86.3 102.1 136.0 Lincoln 44.5

55.7 68.1 Mecklenburg 438.2 575.8 768.8 Rowan

102.2 118.1 133.1 Stanly 49.7 54.1

59.1 Union 75.5 96.3 151.8 REGION 1,301.5 1,561.4 1,961.6 North Carolina 6,164.5 7,180.5 8,541.3 Source: N.C. Office of State Budget and Management

 PER CAPITA INCOME (000s) COUNTY 1984 1994 2003 Alexander

$10.9 $18.8 $24.6 Anson 8.8 16.2 21.2 Cabarrus

12.3 21.2 29.8 Catawba 12.6 21.9 26.6 Cleveland

10.8 18.2 23.7 Gaston 11.3 20.0 27.9 Iredell

11.8 20.5 27.2 Lincoln 11.3 19.3 24.0 Mecklenburg

15.1 27.0 38.5 Rowan 11.7 18.7 25.5 Stanly

11.2 17.5 23.3 Union 12.3 19.0 27.0 REGION

12.8 22.4 31.1 North Carolina 11.8 20.4 28.1 Source: N.C. Office of State Budget and Management

 EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY SECTOR

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