To gauge the economic vitality of America’s Southeast region, consider one example: the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina.
After a lull late in 2018, the area has been adding jobs in dramatic fashion. “Payroll employment grew over 4 percent annually in the first and second quarters—over twice the state, region, and U.S. rates,” says Dante DeAntonio, senior economist at economic forecaster Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “Job growth has not been this strong in consecutive quarters since 2006. Health care, professional/business services, and leisure/hospitality account for two-thirds of net new 18,000 jobs” in 2019.