The state’s jobless rate in August 2013 is the lowest it’s been in the past year. But there is still a big loss in payroll jobs.
North Carolina’s unemployment rate is 8.7%, down 0.2 of a percentage point from July and nearly a full point down from this time last year. The national jobless rate is 7.3%.
Business and Professional Services, Education and Health Services and Trade, Transportation and Utilities experienced the most job growth in North Carolina over the month, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. But numbers also show the state eliminated 1,700 more payroll positions than it added, primarily jobs in local government.
A recent report from “South by North Strategies” says the year is shaping up to be the worst year for job growth since the so-called recovery. John Quinterno is a principal with South by North Strategies, Ltd., a Chapel Hill-based research and communications firm focusing on economic and social policy.
"North Carolina's labor market has turned in an utterly under-whelming performance so far in 2013," Quinterno said in a statement. "The overall decline in the unemployment rate is masking a number of alarming developments."
The state's 8.7% unemployment rate equates to 409,487 people looking for work.
