The number of people unemployed in North Carolina decreased in December as the unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percent, from 10 to 9.9 percent.
“Gov. Perdue’s mission on jobs for North Carolina continues to be our focus,” said N.C. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll. “Looking at the private sector over-the-year, we are seeing some moderate signs of improvement. We remain committed to assisting our customers statewide with our programs and services available at our local offices.”
Since December 2010, private sector jobs have increased by 29,400 (seasonally adjusted). Over-the-year, leisure & hospitality had the largest job gain with 11,800. Total nonfarm industry employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey decreased slightly by 4,400 but was up 19,600 over-the-year.
The number of people unemployed decreased by 5,193 to 446,402 (seasonally adjusted). The number of people employed increased by 9,532, to 4,061,136. Since this time last year, the number of people unemployed has increased by 9,154. The state unemployment rate in December 2010 was 9.8 percent.
The last time it was this low was in June, 2011. The United States Unemployment rate dropped from 8.7% in November to 8.5% in December.