North Carolina has set a new high mark for the number of employed residents for the third straight month, even as unemployment bumped up slightly in September while remaining below figures reported one year ago.
The N.C. Department of Commerce announced Friday that the number of people employed in North Carolina increased by 14,985 from July to 5,087,812, growing by 124,714 from a year ago.
Seasonally adjusted Total Nonfarm employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased 10,100 to 4,948,400 in September.
Major industries experiencing increases were Education & Health Services, 4,900; Professional & Business Services, 3,700; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 3,400; Information, 1,500; Government, 600; and Mining & Logging, 100.
Major industries experiencing decreases when compared to August were Leisure & Hospitality Services, 1,600; Financial Activities, 1,100; Manufacturing, 900; Construction, 400; and Other Services, 100.
Since September 2022, Total Nonfarm jobs increased 105,000 with the Total Private sector increasing by 87,800 and Government increasing by 17,200. Major industries experiencing increases were Education & Health Services, 31,000; Leisure & Hospitality Services, 27,900; Government, 17,200; Professional & Business Services, 14,300; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 11,700; Other Services, 4,300; Information, 2,300; Financial Activities, 200; and Mining & Logging, 100.
Major industries experiencing decreases from a year ago were Construction, 2,300; and Manufacturing, 1,700.
Unemployment claims increased from August by 3,119 to a total of 176,650 to 3.4 percent, an increase of 0.1 percent, but down by 26,072 claims when the jobless rate in September 2022 was 3.9 percent.
The total available workforce in North Carolina in September was 5,264,462, an increase of 18,104 possible workers.
