N.C. jobless rate drops to 9.9 percent in February

North Carolina gained 8,300 jobs over the month, and the state’s unemployment rate decreased to 9.9 in February, down 0.3 of a percentage point from a revised January rate of 10.2 percent.

“North Carolina continues to gain jobs,” said N.C. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll. “The state has gained 112,000 jobs over the past two years. Growing jobs in North Carolina continues to be Gov. Perdue’s focus. Assisting people to find work through our employment services offices throughout the state continues to be a priority.”

Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm industry employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased to 3,962,400 in February.

Since February 2011, total nonfarm jobs gained 47,000 jobs and the private sector showed an increase of 44,200 jobs.

The largest over-the-year gain in trade, transportation and utilities increased with 11,700 jobs and the second largest increase occurred in education and health services, which was up 10,900.

The number of people unemployed decreased by 11,526 to 463,983 (seasonally adjusted) over the month. The number of people employed increased by 16,813, to 4,224,398.

Since this time last year, the number of people unemployed has decreased by 19,961. The state unemployment rate in February 2011 was 10.4 percent.
For more information, visit http://www.ncesc.com.