Northeastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks saw the overall unemployment rate increase by 0.7 percent in October as additional seasonal jobs came to an end for 2022.
The N.C. Department of Commerce reported Thursday the jobless rate in the 12-county region was 4.3 percent, with 4,155 unemployment claims filed out of a total workforce of 95,640.
The number of available workers increased by 191 in the 12 counties, but the three Outer Banks counties of Dare, Currituck and Hyde experienced a total decline of 690 workers.
Currituck gained 32, Hyde lost 29, while Dare had the largest departure from the eligible workforce of 751.
All 12 of the region’s counties, and 99 out of 100 in the state, had their jobless rates increase from September to October.
When compared to October 2021, the unemployment rate was down in Bertie, Dare, Hertford, Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington counties, while increasing in Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank and Perquimans.
The biggest over-the-year decline in the area was in Tyrrell, 0.9 percent, while Camden had the biggest increase, 0.4 percent.
The statewide unemployment rate in October was 3.9 percent, up 0.6 percent from September while declining 0.3 percent from October 2021.
Edgecombe County had the highest unemployment rate at 7.5 percent while Orange County had the lowest at 3.1 percent.
All fifteen of the state’s metro areas experienced rate increases. Among the metro areas, Rocky Mount had the highest rate at 6.2 percent while Asheville, Durham-Chapel Hill, and Raleigh each had the lowest at 3.3 percent.
The number of workers employed statewide (not seasonally adjusted) decreased in October by 2,629 to 4,947,826, while those unemployed increased by 32,875 to 202,689. Since October 2021, the number of workers employed statewide increased 135,671, while those unemployed decreased 6,888.
The state commerce department reported last month that seasonally adjusted Total Nonfarm employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased 8,300 to 4,827,400 in October.
Major industries experiencing increases were Professional & Business Services, 4,900; Education & Health Services, 2,600; Government, 2,300; Other Services, 2,300; Manufacturing, 1,900; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 1,300; and Construction, 900.
Major industries experiencing decreases were Leisure & Hospitality Services, 6,300; Financial Activities, 1,100; and Information, 500. Mining & Logging employment remained unchanged.