Tagged: NC Unemployment Rate

North Carolina's unemployment rate declined slightly in February to 9.4 percent. But the report released Thursday shows that unemployment is no longer steadily declining year to year.

Back in February 2010, the unemployment rate peaked in the state at 11.3 percent.

Then North Carolina started slowly but steadily recovering from the recession. In February 2011, the rate was 10.3 percent. A year later, 9.5 percent. And you could see those kind of year-over-year improvements no matter what month you looked at - at least, until this year.

North Carolina’s unemployment rate got worse in August, while South Carolina’s remained steady but well above the national average.

If you’re looking for bright spots in the North Carolina unemployment report, well, good luck.

"This is undoubtedly a disappointing jobs report," Allan Freyer said. He's an analyst with the N.C. Budget and Tax Center. "We see a weakening private sector and long-term decay in public sector employment as well."