Unemployment Rate Drops Slightly, But Job Numbers Still Bleak

The latest jobs numbers are out for North Carolina, and in spite of a slight drop in the unemployment rate the numbers still don’t look very promising.

Month-over-month changes comparing Sept. to August show:

• Seasonally adjusted, total non-farm industry employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased by 10,100 jobs over the past month to 3,921,600. The largest over-the-month increase occurred in Government (+9,600). [Yes, that’s nearly 10,000 government workers (local, state, and federal) added in just one month in NC.]
• The number of people employed (seasonally adjusted, including farm industry) decreased by 6,665 workers to 4,048,220.
• The state’s seasonally-adjusted labor force (those employed or currently seeking work) shrank by 13,186.
• North Carolina ranked second only to New York (8,558) in new jobless claims for the month

In contrast, nationally the civilian labor force and number of persons employed (seasonally-adjusted, including farm industry) both increased in the last month.

Furthermore, the report shows that “Since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, North Carolina’s labor force has decreased 1.6 percent, while the nation’s rose 0.2 percent. The number of people employed in North Carolina has decreased 6.5 percent compared to 4.6 percent nationally, while the number unemployed has increased 92.5 percent in North Carolina and 91.9 percent nationwide.”

Year over year, since Sept. 2009, the report indicates that North Carolina local governments have added 17,100 jobs and state government 9,700 jobs.