Business

Charlotte NC Business demographics can be widely varied by industry. Listed below are some of the latest business headlines from local businesses.

Chamber’s ‘excursion’ to feel right at home

The Charlotte Chamber has lined up public and private leaders from N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue to Wells Fargo & Co. CEO John Stumpf to participate in its Inter City Visit next month to Charlotte. This is the first time in the 54-year tradition that the business organization hasn’t traveled to another city. The economy squelched this year’s planned trip to Boston. The Charlotte “visit” is scheduled for June 17-19.

N.C. jobless numbers hint ‘free fall’ may be over

The economic storm that has roiled North Carolina’s labor market for months relented in April, a sign the downturn might have hit bottom. Unemployment, which has risen every month since February 2008, held steady at 10.8 percent in April, according to data released Friday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission. The number of people employed in North Carolina showed the first monthly gain since October.

“It looks like the free fall we were in six months ago may have come to a halt,” said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State University. “But it’s way too early to declare a turnaround in the job market.”