RALEIGH – Despite unemployment hovering around 2.9 percent in Wake County, the Triangle’s job scene may not be all that’s it cracked up to be when compared to other metros across the country.

A new study from financial news and information site WalletHub placed Raleigh at only No. 48 on its 2020 “Best Cities for Jobs” list – far behind Austin, Texas at No. 4, one of Raleigh’s biggest rivals.

Durham didn’t fair much better coming in at No. 62, while Fayetteville just made the list at No. 181.

WalletHub compared 182 cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across two key dimensions, “Job Market” and “Socio-economics.”

“We assigned a heavier weight to the former, considering the fact that factors in that category most heavily influence a job seeker’s decision in terms of relocation for employment,” the report said.“We then evaluated the two dimensions using 31 relevant metrics.”

Source: WalletHub

Raleigh earned a total score of 55.16 – with a “job market” rank of 56 and a “socio-economics” rank of 42. Durham’s total score was 53.58, with a corresponding score of 46 and 102.

According to the survey, Scottsdale, Arizona nabbed the top spot. South Burlington, Vermont and San Francisco, California followed closely behind.

The report comes on the same day the N.C. Department of Commerce released its latest employment figures.

Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) decreased in 92 of North Carolina’s counties in November, increased in four, and remained the same in four. Hyde County had the highest unemployment rate at 9.8 percent, while Buncombe County had the lowest at 2.5 percent. All of the state’s 15 metro areas experienced rate decreases. Among the metro areas, Rocky Mount and Fayetteville at 4.6 percent had the highest rate and Asheville had the lowest rate at 2.6 percent. The November not seasonally adjusted statewide rate was 3.4 percent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent jobs report, the national unemployment rate is 3.6 percent, just a bit higher than the 50-year low of 3.5 percent seen in September 2019.