North Carolina unemployment rate at 3.8%, 0.3 increase from last year

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- North Carolina sees another increase in its unemployment rate.

According to the NC Department of Commerce, it rose from 3.7% to 3.8% from July's revised rate, affecting about 199,000 people.

The rate, overall, is up compared to a year ago from 3.5.

Here's a further breakdown of the numbers:

• The number of employed people decreased by 6,456 over the month to 5,067,497. This makes a total of 2,428 new hires over the year.
• The number of unemployed people increased by 4,127 in the past month to reach 199,637, resulting in an increase of 16,115 over the year.

NC Commerce reported significant job growth in leisure & hospitality services, education & health services, and government. Among the industries experiencing low job growth are trade, transportation, & utilities and manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.2 from last month.

The next update will be released in early October, alongside the county unemployment rates for August 2024.