NC’s June jobless rate expected to climb from May

RALEIGH — North Carolina jobseekers got more bad news in June as the state’s unemployment rate spent a fifth consecutive month hovering above the previous historic high of 26 years ago.

The state Employment Security Commission reported Friday that June’s unemployment rate dropped a tick to 11 percent compared with May’s level of 11.1 percent. The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June.

North Carolina State University economist Michael Walden is forecasting that North Carolina’s unemployment rate will peak at about 13 percent early next year and stay above 10 percent through the end of 2010.

The Federal Reserve said it expects that U.S. unemployment will top 10 percent and remain high for years.

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