Fifth Third Bank and the UNC Kenan Institute have teamed up to launch a collaboration called Empowering American Cities, which aims to provide U.S. businesses with localized economic data [73f7b8de]. The collaboration covers "extended metropolitan areas" representing 88% of U.S. economic activity, including 150 of the largest microeconomies. Charlotte's economy is projected to have a growth rate of 2.7% for the year, ranking it eighth among the 50 largest cities. The pace of hiring is expected to slow in all major sectors, with net job growth of only 0.7% for the year [73f7b8de]. The collaboration uses Kenan's "proprietary statistical techniques" combined with Fifth Third Bank's knowledge of regional markets to arrive at their projections [73f7b8de]. The collaboration's joint forecast predicts a "short and shallow" recession for the U.S. economy later this year [73f7b8de]. The economists also warned that labor shortages could pose a risk to the U.S. economy due to the increasing dependence on foreign-born workers as Baby Boomers retire and the labor force contracts [73f7b8de].