(The Center Square) – Employment has increased by more than 15,000 and unemployment has decreased nearly 3,900 over 12 months, the North Carolina Department of Commerce says.
All 15 metropolitan areas have had unemployment rate decreases from January to February, the department said in a release. The rates are not seasonally adjusted.
North Carolina, estimated population 11 million, has 5,075,410 workers statewide and 195,636 unemployed, the state said in a release. In context, it should be noted not all without jobs formally register.
According to the Commerce Department analysis, Charlotte is the metro area with the highest volume of labor force (1.4 million) and sixth-highest unemployment rate (3.8%, same as Wilmington). The highest metro unemployment rate is Asheville (5.5%), site of arguably the state’s worst natural disaster last fall. Asheville’s labor force volume (212,297) is seventh largest.
Seasonally adjusted real weekly wages were $1,099 in January 2024 and one year later have climbed to $1,121. Since the pandemic began in March 2020, the highest calculation was $1,145 in August 2021. The drop was to $1,108 just 12 months later and bottomed in January 2024.
The labor force participation rate, the analysis says, is 59.8%. It was 61.4% in February 2020 before the pandemic and tumbled to a COVID-19 era low of 56.6% in April. In 2022 from January to July, it had returned to 61.4% for each month.
