Western North Carolina’s economic activity declined in April, erasing earlier job growth in the region.

“We are seeing a slowdown in the regional economy. There were gains in 2012, but we’ve not been able to sustain the momentum,” said Dr. Todd Cherry, director of the Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA) at Appalachian State University.

Economic activity, as measured by the Western North Carolina Economic Index compiled at Appalachian, decreased by 0.3 points in April. This continued the declining trend for 2012 in the economic index, which tracks the level of economic activity in 25 western North Carolina counties.

“Regional employment is down over the last two months, which reversed seven consecutive months of job growth in the region,” Cherry said. “We are also ...