The Carolinas - Economy

Economy

Traditionally, like much of the South, the Carolinas have been agricultural. However, the predominance of certain crops has influenced the regional economy:

Like other states, until after World War II NC remained primarily a region of small farms and factories heavily dependent on just a few labor-intensive crops, relying on sharecropping and tenancy, especially for black laborers. The Carolinas are distinct for their economic dependence on tobacco as well as on cotton and rice, and for their many small-scale furniture, textile, and tobacco factories.

These small industries gave the Carolinas, in particular NC, a more significant industrial base than most Southern states, but as increased mechanization in the textiles, apparel, and furniture industries combined with the decline of the tobacco industry, many rural and small urban communities suffered. However, during the 1990s, both states began to experience growth in the technological and banking sectors, bringing jobs and population growth. These changes, as with earlier industrialization, were more pronounced in the northern state, and SC has experienced a slower rate of economic growth for several years.