Creative Occupation Jobs 8 percent

The annual Creative Vitality Index (CVI) update shows an increase of more than 8- percent in creative occupations jobs held by nearly 3-percent of North Carolina's workforce.

The Creative Vitality Index (CVI) is a national report that provides an annual measure of the health of the creative economy. The CVI measures concentrations of arts-related employment in both the private/business and nonprofit sectors as well as indicators of consumer activity in the arts. The N.C. Arts Council has data on creative industry spending and creative occupation employment since 2006.

The 8-percent increase in creative occupation jobs over the last five years includes positions such as architects, librarians, fine artists, designers, performers, photographers and public relations specialists in the more than 50 categories tracked. The creative industry jobs measure all workers in business sectors within the categories Entertainment and Information; Publishing and Printing; Artists; Design Services; Retail; Community Services and Design Manufacturing. All these categories, except for Community Services, saw steady growth. The art gallery and individual artist industry cluster generated the most industry sales within the CVI report.

The most recent data shows that people with creative ideas, innovators, and entrepreneurs bring investment and jobs to our communities. Specifically, the CVI report shows the following:

• Creative Industries are directly and indirectly responsible for almost 320,000 full time, part time, and sole proprietor jobs. This figure represents 6 percent of North Carolina's overall workforce. These creative industry jobs generate over $12 billion in wages, salaries and benefits - $2 billion more than the impact four years ago.
• The number of jobs in creative occupations increased by more than 8 percent over the past five years to 137,225 total creative jobs. This figure represents nearly 3 percent of the state's workforce. Between 2010 and 2011 our state gained 6,833 creative full-time, part-time and sole-proprietor positions in creative occupations.
• Creative Industries in North Carolina generate more than $18 billion in revenues and more than $7 billion in exports.

"The fact that North Carolina's creative workforce remained strong despite the recession tells us that jobs in creative industries and for creative workers are vital to the overall economy of our towns and cities," Secretary Kluttz said. "This good news also reinforces the important partnership between creativity and the business sector."

"Our creative industry is healthy, and the CVI update underscores the importance of culture to North Carolina's future," said Kluttz. "The Department of Cultural Resources continues to position North Carolina as a state where our thriving creative industries retain workers and attract new entrepreneurial opportunities."

The N.C. Arts Council has measured the state's creative economy since 2005 when it released the first report, Creative Economy: The Arts Industry in North Carolina.

"The arts are valuable to our lives and to our communities," said Wayne Martin, Executive Director, N.C. Arts Council. "Beyond supporting the intrinsic value of the arts, we can document the role of the arts in creating jobs, revitalizing downtowns and bringing visitors to our state. Because the arts make North Carolina a better state in which to live, we must think creatively about how to sustain and support the arts for the future."

Last spring the Arts Council released Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, the first statewide economic impact study of North Carolina's nonprofit arts and culture industry. Conducted by Americans for the Arts, the study showed that nonprofit arts and culture alone are a $1.23 billion industry for the state.

View the 2013 Creative North Carolina Fact Sheet.