Over the last few months, there has been a consistent rhetoric of misinformation around unemployment insurance in North Carolina. The distorted conversation has created a misunderstanding of the impacts that last year’s unemployment insurance reform has had on North Carolina’s growing economy. After several opinion pieces in the Triangle Business Journal and The News and Observer either missed the mark or just got it plain wrong, we thought it was important to share the perspective of our state’s job creators and some facts that don’t get reported. Lew Ebert, NC Chamber president and CEO, wrote a guest column in the Triangle Business Journal discussing the progress North Carolina has made to repay its staggering federal UI debt and lower its jobless rate since comprehensive UI reform was enacted.

The debt to the federal government is down from $2.6 billion to less than $600 million and North Carolina is on track to retire the debt before Nov. 10, 2015. Meeting this target allows our state’s employers to stop sending principal and interest payments to Washington and to start investing that money at home. Additionally our state has seen one of the fastest declining unemployment rates in the country, and our employers have added more than 70,000 jobs annually for the past two years. Ultimately, UI reform is just one of many solutions helping grow North Carolina’s economy and spur private sector jobs. With your ongoing support, we have been able to secure numerous legislative accomplishments to make your business more competitive in the race for jobs and growth.