What have the UI benefit cuts in NC done so far?

I just ran across three blog posts on what has happened to the North Carolina labor market since unemployment benefits were cut drastically in July.  One account is from the left, one from the right and one is data-focused.  (Aside: 2 of the 3 appeared in Tyler Cowen's Marginal Revolution website.)

Basic labor econ 101 says that the cuts in benefits will mean fewer unemployed persons and a smaller labor force.  Those collecting benefits must document job search efforts to continue receiving a check; if fewer people can collect checks, some of them will cut back on their search intensity and drop out of the labor force.

The impact on employment is more difficult to gauge.  One possibility is that the unemployed will become willing to work at lower wages and this would lead to faster transitions from joblessness to employment.  On the other hand, net income from a low wage job might not be all that much higher than the income generated from income maintenance programs and informal market activity, so there may be no change in employment.

I took a quick look at the data for NC from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  So far (June versus November) employment is unchanged, the number of unemployed is down by 18 percent, and the labor force has shrunk by 1 percent.  The unemployment rate is down from 8.8 to 7.4 percent, but it entirely reflects unemployed people dropping out of the labor force.  The good news is that there are fewer unemployed; the bad news is that they are not employed and have lower incomes.