What is a Labor Market?
Labor markets, or job markets, are local areas in which individuals seek employment and employers recruit and hire workers. These activities usually take place in a specific geographic region called a labor market area. Generally, the boundaries of labor market areas are based on the commuting patterns of workers. The major labor market areas in a given state are defined by the U.S. Department of Labor as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The following MSAs are defined in North Carolina: • Asheville • Burlington • Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord-Rock Hill NC/SC • Durham • Fayetteville • Goldsboro • Greensboro-High Point • Greenville • Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton • Jacksonville • Raleigh-Cary • Rocky Mount • Wilmington • Winston-Salem Employers in North Carolina In the first quarter of 2006, there were more than 223,000 employers in North Carolina, ranging from small firms with one or two workers to large companies that employ thousands. About 74 percent of all firms in the state employ fe
