Home births surged in North Carolina during the pandemic, reflecting a national trend.

What's happening: 2021 marked a 30-year high in the U.S. for births at home as families avoided hospitals that were swamped with COVID-19 patients, Axios' Sabrina Moreno reported, citing the Centers for Disease Control.

• The greatest increases were among Black and Latino communities.

By the numbers: North Carolina recorded 1,052 home births in 2021, up from 625 in 2018, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

• NCDHHS doesn't have specific data to indicate why home births have increased in the state, but spokesperson Summer Tonizzo tells Axios that informal feedback points to several factors, including greater awareness of home birth options.

Between the lines: Home births are a lower-cost, more comfortable option for low-risk pregnancies, says Maria Iorillo, a licensed midwife in San Francisco who has been assisting in home births for nearly 40 years.

• A home setting also offers more autonomy to people of color, who can face discrimination and structural racism at hospitals, per a report from the National Partnership for Women & Families.

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Ophthalmic Apprentice at Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates, P.A.

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🥣 The town of Matthews plans to transform a historic pottery kiln and workshop near its downtown into a museum and educational resource called Outen Pottery Park, which will be open to the public. (Charlotte Ledger)

💵 Providence Group Capital has acquired a 1.45-acre property at 1420 S. Mint St., in the Gold District. The site includes 52,000 square feet of existing buildings occupied by retailers and service providers.

• PGC will continue to lease the property while making upgrades.
• Of note: This is PGC’s 15th acquisition in South End/LoSo over the last 12 months.

💰 Two North Carolina men were sentenced to several years in prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that stole $4 million from hundreds of unsuspecting investors. (Observer 🔐)

Christi Busch, founder of gourmet dog food company For the Love of Dutch, shares a few insights about her business:

Biggest financial curveball?

• We had to spend money to make money. In other words, in order to grow our client base we had to be ready for that growth before it happened.

Something you wish you’d known earlier?

• “You don't know what you don't know" applies to starting a new business. I wish I had invested in outsourcing things like accounting sooner than I did.

Christi leans on Fisher, P.A., a Charlotte-based accounting firm, to power her business.

UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton doesn't anticipate a recession in 2023, despite ongoing headwinds such as the war in Ukraine and inflation.

"It's hard to visualize a recession when unemployment is this low," Connaughton said during an economic forecast presentation last week.

• The U.S. unemployment rate is 3.7%, per recent figures from the Labor Department.

North Carolina bucked national economic trends this year, including with its gross domestic product growth, Connaughton noted.

• U.S. GDP declined 1.6% in the first quarter and 0.6% in the second; North Carolina GDP increased 2.8% in the first quarter and decreased 0.4% in the second. 

By the numbers: North Carolina is expected to add 72,800 net new jobs in 2023, per Connaughton.

• The state is expected to end 2022 with a 3.6% unemployment rate, down from 3.9% at the start of the year.
• Connaughton predicts the state's jobless rate will rise slightly to 3.9% in 2023.
• North Carolina's inflation-adjusted GDP is expected to increase by 1.2% over the 2022 level.

Yes, but: Connaughton does foresee "some ups and some downs in some sectors." Transportation and retail trade, for instance, could grow slower than other sectors such as agriculture.

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