Both of North Carolina's two largest metros cracked the top 10 in a new ranking of "opportunity magnets."
Charlotte comes in at No. 10 in the analysis by LinkedIn, which notes the area's strong finance and manufacturing sectors. But the Queen City trails Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, which is listed at No. 3.
LinkedIn crunched data for 69 U.S. metros to come up with its ranking of the 15 best places to seek a new employment opportunity. It looked at job postings in each area compared with LinkedIn profiles that people had updated with new positions to find those where hiring is happening.
Indeed, the most recent employment data released by the N.C. Department of Commerce shows that, as of October, the local area's labor force had swelled beyond its pre-pandemic level. That tidbit was noted in a recent Charlotte Ledger newsletter, which says employment figures nationally still lag the totals from February 2020.
“Charlotte is, as usual, outpacing national trends when it comes to employment recovery,” Chuck McShane, director of market analytics for real estate information service CoStar, told the Ledger.
Of course, there are downsides to every trend. In a press release this month declaring the state's jobs and GDP have fully recovered from the depths hit early in the pandemic, N.C. Commerce points out the labor market here remains tight. There is less than one job seeker for each opening, the release says, which presents an obvious challenge for businesses looking to hire.
And demand for housing driven by the influx of people moving here to fill those jobs continues to impact affordability. A Zillow analysis highlighted by CBJ's Jenna Martin this morning found local homes out-earned workers here last year — and not by a small margin — while rents have also soared. A CBS News 60 Minutes segment this week mentioned Charlotte among the top markets being targeted by investment companies that are snapping up homes and then renting them out.
“Our largest portfolio would be in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in Phoenix, in Tampa,” said Gary Berman, CEO of Tricon Residential, in that segment. A multibillion-dollar, publicly traded company based in Canada, Tricon has become one of the biggest owners of single-family homes in the U.S., according to the report. “This is where Americans wanna be.”
Both Charlotte and Raleigh moved up on the LinkedIn ranking from the previous year's placement at No. 12 and No. 5, respectively.
The most recent list is topped by Austin, Texas, at No. 1, followed by Seattle at No. 2.
In other local news:
A Charlotte startup that provides telehealth services has earned a lofty spot on Inc. magazine's Regionals 2022, a ranking of more than 900 fast-growing companies coast to coast. The feature divides the U.S. into seven regions, placing North Carolina in the Mid-Atlantic and South Carolina in the Southeast.
More than a dozen companies in North Carolina are named, including four that are based in the local area. The top-ranked company in the state is Charlotte's Let's Talk Interactive, coming in at No. 9 in the region with a whopping 1,106% growth rate.
Let's Talk has been highlighted by Charlotte Inno, which named the company among 50 winners in the Fire Awards last year. Founded in 2001 by Art Cooksey, its customizable offerings give health-care and mental-health professionals the ability to provide to services in a way that helps eliminate problems with patient accessibility. Last summer, the company added a high-profile board member in Kathy Ireland and teamed up with the entrepreneur and former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model's brand.
Other local companies on the list are Rapidops of Charlotte at No. 93 in the Mid-Atlantic, with a growth rate of 101%; SNS Veterinary Service of Waxhaw at No. 107, with growth at 81%; and Crosslake Technologies of Charlotte at No. 110 with 78% growth.
There are five companies in South Carolina on the list for the Southeast, but none are based in the Charlotte region.
Yesterday's top-viewed story on the CBJ website: At $6.2M, 'Baby Biltmore' mansion tops list of Mecklenburg County's priciest home sales
In national news:
- Live updates on war: Ukraine holds the line as Biden heads to Europe — The New York Times
- The pandemic wrecked millions of careers. These people built new ones — The Times
- Covid updates: Moderna to seek emergency authorization for vaccine for young children — The Times
- Why global supply chains may never be the same — The Wall Street Journal
- High gasoline prices have consumers thinking electric — WSJ
- For companies still selling in Russia, 'essential' is a loose term — WSJ
- As sanctions bite Russia, fertilizer shortage imperils world food supply — Reuters
- Takeaways: Supreme Court nominee quizzed on race, crime — Associated Press
This week and beyond:
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