RALEIGH – North Carolina’s unemployment rate is on the rise, for the fourth consecutive month, and is nearing 4%.

According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in North Carolina rose to 3.9%, an increase of one-half of one percent since July 2022, when the state unemployment rate was at a historic low of 3.4%.

But even with the North Carolina unemployment rate at 3.9% as of November 2022, the rate remains lower than a year ago, when it was 4.2%, according to the data.

According to a statement from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the number of employed people in North Carolina decreased in November while the number of unemployed people increased.

“The number of people employed decreased 8,381 over the month to 4,925,524 and increased 141,392 over the year,” the statement reads.  “The number of people unemployed increased 6,442 over the month to 200,523 and decreased 10,115 over the year.”

A sign of ‘distress’ for NC economy: unemployment rate up, again

A negative sign for NC

And this is a negative sign for the direction of North Carolina’s labor market and economy, Dr. Michael Walden, an economist and a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University, told WRAL TechWire on Friday.

“The labor market is slowing in North Carolina, although not necessarily contracting,” said Walden.  “But if fewer people have jobs – but for those who have jobs, more have multiple jobs – then I consider this a negative sign for the state labor market.”

Walden’s comments follow the release of jobs data earlier this month that showed the economy had added 263,000 jobs.  But that data comes from a survey of businesses, whereas the most recent data released today comes from a survey of households, which Walden said “showed fewer people employed, fewer people in the labor force, more people unemployed, and a higher unemployment rate in November than in October.”

Still, North Carolina is adding nonfarm payroll jobs at the third fastest rate of any U.S. state and the District of Columbia, the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

“The largest percentage increase occurred in Texas (+5.1 percent), followed by Florida (+4.7 percent) and Hawaii, North Carolina, and Oregon (+4.3 percent each),” a statement released by the Labor Department reads.

Further, North Carolina is on track to record the fewest number of workers affected by mass layoffs and plant closures in a 25-year data set, WRAL TechWire reported this week.

Layoffs, plant closures in NC hit lowest levels in 25 years despite slowing economy