January N.C. jobless rate highest since 1976

By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 11, 2010

NORTH CAROLINA

In January, North Carolina reached its highest unemployment rate in 34 years, according to statistics released Wednesday.

The number of unemployed rose to 502,533 in January, an increase of 6,943, for a rate of 11.1 percent.

December had an unemployment rate of 10.9 percent.

Nationally the rate fell to 9.7 in January from 10 percent in December.

The 11.1 rate is the highest in North Carolina since 1976, said Larry Parker, spokesman for the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. In January 2009, the rate was 9.2 percent.

Unemployment rates come from a sample survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A separate survey of employers showed that the state gained 8,000 jobs. The two surveys are different indicators and do not tie to each other, Parker said.

The last increase in jobs from the employer survey was in November, he said. "We'd like to see a gain several months in a row."

In 2009, the construction industry lost 37,300 jobs, or 17.7 percent; manufacturing lost 48,500 jobs, or 10.1 percent; and government gained 15,500 jobs, or 2.2 percent.

A breakdown of county unemployment figures will be released March 19.

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Government employees

Submitted by bobl609 on Thu, 03/11/2010 at 11:04 am.

A gain in government employees does not help. With all due respect to government employees (local, State and Federal) they produce nothing and therefore their salaries must be paid by the taxpayers further increasing the tax burden.