see the post above, the decline in furniture manufacturing jobs in north carolina is well established. and so is the trend of moving furniture making offshore to china. stores like walmart and costco and other big box places have displaced much of the traditional "small store" furniture sales, and they sell chinese made stuff exclusively. It may be different with office furniture like Steelcase and Herman Miller, but home furnishings is another story.
From your article:The North Carolina economy, like the national economy, is going through structural change in which jobs in such key industries as textile and furniture manufacturing that required lots of labor are being shipped to countries where pay is low.
Now, do you want me to explain how manufacturing output and manufacturing employment are two different things?