"While we continue to have job announcements in areas across North Carolina, we are still experiencing some job losses in many job sectors, this also being seen across the country," said ESC Chairman Moses Carey, Jr. "We continue to focus our efforts on assisting customers in finding work by matching them with employers and providing unemployment insurance, which helps stabilize communities as workers go through a transition."
May unemployment rates by county will be released on June 26.
For those who are without a job, hearing regular unemployment numbers may not be a good thing.
The unemployed are finding that just because one month's figures are lower, that doesn't mean it's easier to find a job. However, fluctuating figures are an indicator of the overall situation.
The unemployment rate in April was 10.8 percent, the third straight month the rate remained in triple digits.
However, stats showed improvement in the Triangle with more people finding work in Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Fayetteville.
Thursday, the national numbers for May were released and while another 345,000 people lost their jobs, the figure was much lower than analysts expected.
They say take that good news with very cautious optimism.
"If you look at previous recessions, you'll find many examples in the middle of a recession," NC State Economist Mike Walden said. "You get a month or two where jobs go up an then continue to go down."
Walden says whatever the numbers, he thinks it will still be early next year before we see a turnaround in the job market.
And how does the Triangle compare to the rest of the state?
"Well, our unemployment is lower than the state average," Weldon said. "And among the big metro areas -- Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem -- [the] Triangle is in the best shape when it comes to unemployment."
