County jobless numbers decrease
By From staff reports
Published in News on May 28, 2012 1:46 PM
The state's jobs outlook has continued to brighten for another month after a report released Friday showed unemployment rates dropped in 93 of the state's 100 counties from March to April.
Wayne County's rate decreased from 8.7 percent in March to 8.4 in April, a mark half a percentage point lower than April 2011's rate.
Rates also were down compared to April 2011 in 88 counties, while 11 showed increases and one remained the same.
"Rates continued to drop in April," Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll said in a statement. "Looking at over-the-year numbers, most of North Carolina's counties have lower unemployment rates which is certainly positive."
The state had 32 counties that were at or below the state's not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.1 percent.
Greene County was the one county in the state where the month-to-month rate remained the same, at 10.1 percent. That rate was a 0.7 percentage point decrease from April 2011.
Duplin County was among those to show an over-the-year increase, as its mark of 9.4 percent this year showed an uptick from its 9 percent rate in April 2011.
Wilson County's rate of 12.4 percent in April was a decrease from both March's 12.7 percent and last year's 13.3.
Lenoir County saw a 0.7 percentage point increase from March's 10.5 percent to April's 9.8 percent. The area also showed a decrease from last year's 10.8 percent rate.
Sampson County's unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in March 2012 and April 2011, 0.3 percentage points higher than last month's 8.1 percent rate.
Johnston County's rate, at 8.1 percent, was a decrease from March's 8.3 and last April's 9.1.
Currituck County had the lowest rate in North Carolina, at 5.3 percent while Scotland County's 17.4 percent was the state's highest.