NC unemployment hits 5 percent

North Carolina’s unemployment rate is up to five percent for the first time in more than two years.

Figures released Friday showed an unemployment rate increase for the second straight month.

The rate had remained stable at four-point-seven percent for seven months before rising to four-point-nine percent in January.

The US unemployment rate was at 4.8 percent in February. It’s the first time the national rate has been lower than North Carolina’s rate since last June.