Jobless rate in Wayne drops
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on January 9, 2012 1:46 PM
Wayne County's unemployment rate decreased again from October to November, according to the latest data from the state's Employment Security Commission.
Wayne joined 73 other counties across the state that saw decreases in their unemployment rates, showing a decrease from 8.6 percent in October to 8.4 percent in November.
Month-to-month rates also dropped in Sampson, Greene, Johnston, Wilson, Lenoir and Duplin counties, but Wayne County's employment security director said those numbers are influenced by seasonal hiring.
"What we attribute it to is some of our seasonal hiring through retailers hiring for the holiday season," Darlene Williams said. "That would have affected these November rates."
Sampson County's rate decreased from 8.5 percent in October to 8.2, Greene County's from 9.3 to 8.9 percent and Johnston's from 9 percent to 8.7. Lenoir County's percentage decreased to 9.9 from 10.1.
Mrs. Williams said she was glad to see that Wayne and its surrounding counties were among nearly three-fourths of the state's counties with decreasing unemployment rates and said that was the usual trend for the area.
Another telling statistic was the fact that Wayne County's rate this November is 0.1 percent lower than November 2010. A year-to-year decrease was the case among each of the counties around Wayne, as well, with the exception of Duplin, where unemployment increased from 8.9 percent in October to 9.1 percent in November 2011, up from 9 percent in 2010.
Unemployment rates rose in 20 N.C. counties and remained the same in six. Scotland County's 16.6 percent rate was the highest in the state, while Orange County's 5.8 percent was the lowest.