North Carolina shows growing economy amid COVID-19; unemployment remains high

North Carolina leaders released county and metro area unemployment numbers as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps many people out of work.

According to the N.C. Department of Commerce, the city of Fayetteville has the highest unemployment rate of any metro area at 8.4 percent.

The Durham-Chapel Hill metro area has the lower jobless rate of 5.2 percent for the month of November.

As for counties, Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 10.5 percent. Watauga County with the lowest unemployment rate at 4.2 percent.

Calculations for the entire state of North Carolina put the unemployment rate at 6.2 percent, which is lower than the 6.7 percent national average reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.