RALEIGH – The unemployment rate in 50 of North Carolina’s 100 counties decreased in February 2022, new data from the North Carolina Department of Commerce shows.
Across the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which includes Durham, Orange, Granville, and Person Counties, unemployment was the lowest of any MSA in the state at 2.9 percent, the data shows.
The unemployment rate is low in a number of Triangle area counties, a trend that continues from a prior report earlier this year. Orange County has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in the state, at 2.5 percent. The Wake County unemployment rate is 3.0 percent and the Durham County unemployment rate is also 3.0 percent.
Chatham County, where the recently announced VinFast automotive assembly plant will be located, was found to have an unemployment rate of 2.8 percent, the third lowest of any county in the state.
In 38 counties, the unemployment rate remained unchanged, and in 12 counties, unemployment increased compared to January 2022.
Rocky Mount’s MSA had the highest unemployment rate of anywhere in the state, as of February 2022, at 6.2 percent, the data shows.
But the data also shows that there are 78 counties in North Carolina that have unemployment rates at or less than 5.0 percent.
Triangle counties have some of lowest unemployment rates in NC
There is good news
Yet, even as there are 22 North Carolina counties where the unemployment rate is above 5.0 percent, unemployment is lower than it was a year ago.
According to a statement released by the Department of Commerce, “when compared to the same month last year, not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates decreased in all 100 counties.”
In addition, each of the state’s 15 metropolitan statistical areas saw a decrease in the year-over-year unemployment rate.
It isn’t surprising that the lowest unemployment rates appear in the larger metropolitan areas, said Dr. Michael Walden, a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University and a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.
Walden specifically cited Johnston County, where the unemployment rate 3.2 percent, and Union County, where the unemployment rate is 3.0 percent, according to the data.
“These “outer metro” counties will also be the fastest growing as developers seek to avoid the very high real estate prices in the core metro counties,” said Walden.
Another interesting finding from the report is that some the largest year over year decreases in the jobless rate were in counties like Martin County or Caldwell County, Walden noted.
“This reflects the more severe impact of the pandemic in those counties,” said Walden. “Although the jobless rates in those non-metro counties have had big drops, their current rates are still relatively high.”
