The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

A couple of months ago we reported that North Carolina one of ten states with the largest employment gaps. That meant that as of this summer, the state of North Carolina would have needed to generate nearly 500,00 additional jobs in order to keep up with growing population numbers and old and new workers flooding the Tar Heel market in future months and years.

With these disturbing jobless figures in mind, it should therefore come as double-dose of economic reality that the Tar Heel State now also ranks among another not-so-distinguished list: One of the 10 states where the most unemployed could lose benefits.…

About a year ago, we reported that North Carolina was at the “top of the heap,” when it came to being home to one of the ten best cities to find jobs. Despite the fact that millions of struggling Americans were still working hard to find employment, economists were heartened about prospects for growth in 2012 as industries increasingly reported better profits and adding new jobs. As a result, back then, cities like Durham, N.C., which had rebounded with more jobs post-recession based on gains in the tech industries, looked like beacons of hope for a new economic recovery.

But now we’re forced to fast-forward to 2011, and Friday’s news that the United States failed to add any jobs in August.…

While millions of struggling Americans are considering all kinds of smart moves to make ends meet—taking on extra work, cutting corners in their household budgets, or even considering the benefits of bankruptcy—others may be considering literal moves from state to state as some prove to outweigh others in what they can offer on the job front.

Are you one of the many still looking for work? Well you’ve come to the right place. Or, at least, the place where you can find the best “places” to find work, as Gallup has published its latest Job Creation Index, providing a state-by-state comparison of which states predominately hired and fired in 2010.…

While millions of struggling Americans still working hard to find employment might disagree, economists are heartened about prospects for growth this year as industries increasingly report better profits and add new jobs.

In fact, job growth is said to be at its fastest pace in 10 months.  In recent surveys, American employers were found to have added 162,000 jobs in March 2010, the most in three years. Wages and salaries also are improving.  And, obviously higher salaries bode well for the recovery, since consumer spending accounts for as much as 70 percent of our nation’s economic activity.

So, are you still looking for work?…

While the current economic forecast is considered by economists to be less dismal than in past months, many of the same economists are predicting unemployment will stay high over the next several years—noting that recession-scarred employers are likely to stay conservative in their hiring practices even as recession-scarred citizens continue their search for a dwindling number of jobs. Recent unemployment figures show that North Carolina unemployment grew to 11.2% in the month of February.

So, what if you’re one of the unfortunate many facing job cuts or recently suffering from unemployment? Here are five easy steps to get you back on track when time is short.…

In these tough economic times, many believe the federal government has already launched yet another stimulus program. This one’s called the U.S. Census.

Every 10 years, the Census Bureau takes a demographic snapshot of the American population, determining how many people reside within our nation’s borders, who they are, and where they live. The results help determine our representation in government, as well as how federal funds are spent in our communities on things like roads, parks, housing, schools, and public safety.

Don’t think the census can make a direct economic impact? The numbers don’t seem to lie.

As Nightly Business Report’s Terri Cullen reported in her article The Census as Economic Stimiulus, “Nearly 1.4 million census takers are expected to earn upwards of $15 billion helping to help compile the 2010 census.…

If you’re reading this, odds are you’re considering bankruptcy. As such, you have a lot on your plate. Yet, what might make you feel a bit better about being bankruptcy bound is the knowledge that you’re not alone. Millions of average Americans just like you are facing desperate circumstances as they struggle to stay afloat in the wake of this decade’s Great Recession—facing foreclosure, job insecurity, rising costs and, of course, insolvency.

In the series, Our Great Recession 2.0, we’ll delve into some of the more unique stories of this decade’s unprecedented economic downturn, allowing you to see familiar faces and dire places people are going in order to handle the financial meltdown head-on.…

Overworked? Underpaid? Join the Club: The Middle Class

This week, a money-themed CBS Sunday Morning featured Cary, North Carolina’s SAS, a business software company–featuring subsidized on-site daycare, gyms, and health care–as an example of a corporate aberration in the these tough economic times. As CBS reporter Jim Axelrod pointed out in his cover story “The Great American Paycheck Squeeze,” the reality is, “for more and more Americans in these recessionary times, SAS might as well be Disney World. The fact is, most workers feel overworked, under-appreciated and–most of all–under-paid.”

What’s your work experience in this decade of decline? Overworked? Underpaid? Or just happy to be here?…

Are you putting off filing for bankruptcy because you fear it will cause you to lose your security clearance? Or do you work or study in a field with a lot of defense work, and you fear a bankruptcy will keep you from getting a job? In fact, filing bankruptcy could be the best thing you could do to get or keep your security clearance.

Financial considerations are an important part of the security clearance process, and nearly 50% of the denials of security clearances result from people failing this part of the process. The adjudicator processing the clearance is most concerned with large amounts of unpaid debt that might lead you to sell state secrets for money.…

You may be worried that bankruptcy will have a negative effect on your employment. How can you take back control of your financial life if, for example, you get fired and can’t earn any money? Lots of people worry about this. You are not alone. This is a completely understandable fear. Fortunately, that’s all it is…just a fear. The truth is that it is illegal for your employer to fire you or anyone else for filing bankruptcy.

Besides, you’re a good employee, right? Why would an employer fire a good employee? That hurts the employer. Simply put, not only is it illegal, but it’s just not in the employer’s best interest.…