NC unemployment rate drops for second straight month

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s unemployment rate decreased to 10.8 percent in April, according to statistics released today by the state’s Employment Security Commission. The rate had been 11.1 percent in March.

“There is some good news in the April data,” said ESC Chairman Lynn Holmes. “North Carolina gained jobs for the second consecutive month, however we have seen some variation in the sectors experiencing the growth. While overall job growth is up and the unemployment rate is slightly lower, we still face challenges in this tough economy. We will still be working — as always — with customers across the state in numerous ways to provide benefits and job search help.

”Seasonally adjusted, total non-farm industry employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased by 7,500 jobs over the past month to 3,902,000. The largest over-the-month increases occurred in Professional& Business Services (+6,300) and Government (+6,000). The largest decreases were in Leisure & Hospitality (-3,100) and Trade, Transportation & Utilities (-3,100). Since April 2009, non-farm employment has decreased by 33,600 jobs.

The number of people employed (seasonally adjusted) increased by 22,736 workers to 4,079,689. The number of people unemployed decreased by 16,516 workers, to 491,467. Since this time last year, the number of unemployed has increased by 5,072 people. The number of workers employed is down by 1,819 since April 2009. The state rate in April 2009 was 10.7 percent.

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