Report: Unemployment Rises in 92 Counties Between April and May

Unemployment rates went up in 92 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in May, including Orange County.

That information comes from a June 27 report from the North Carolina Department of Commerce Labor and Economic Analysis Division.

Since April, Orange County’s unemployment rate went up from four percent to 4.9 percent.

Orange County held on to that four percent rate for a long time, as well as the top spot for lowest unemployment in the state.

That honor now goes to Currituck County, with a 4.6 percent unemployment rate.

Orange County is now at number three, behind Chatham County, at 4.7 percent.

Scotland County has the highest unemployment rate, at 12.7 percent.

Compared to May of last year, not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rates decreased in all 100 counties.

Statewide, the not-seasonally-adjusted number of employed workers went up by more than 33,000 in May, to 4.4 million.

The number of those unemployed increased also, by around 29,000 to a total of 312,061.

Since May 2013, the number of workers employed statewide increased by around 73,000, while those unemployed decreased by around 78,000.