According to the latest statistics released by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, the unemployment rate spiked nearly half a percent to a record 11.2 percent last month. This is the highest registered unemployment rate since the ESC began using the current methodology in 1976.
After several months of actual job gains and relatively no change in the unemployment rate, employment fell by 31,338 workers in December. May’s unemployment rate of 11.1 percent was the previous record.
“The effects of a national recession continues to impact our jobless rate,” ESC Chairman Moses Carey Jr. said. “Clearly, too many people are without a job, which is why we are working hard to provide job search assistance — among other services — for job seekers, and unemployment benefits to thousands of people.”
Since December 2008, employment has decreased by 191,258 workers, causing the unemployment rate to climb from 8.1 percent to more than 11 percent. Unemployment also rose by 19,022 workers to 505,939.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” said ESC spokesperson Larry Parker. “There hadn’t been much movement in the rate in the past several months, and we had actually seen some job creation lately. For this to happen was a little discouraging.”
A slight increase in unemployment was expected in December due to the holidays and seasonal hirings, but Parker said the problem is statewide. Leisure and hospitality — a state strength — suffered the largest loss of jobs with a decrease of 2,600.
“North Carolina is a great state for leisure and hospitality all over the state,” Parker said. “From the mountains to the beach, there’s a lot of great things going on year round. This is not just the beach, this is statewide. There are a lot of areas that just aren’t getting the traffic they’re typically used to.”
Manufacturing and construction continue their downward spiral as another 2,100 jobs were lost between the two last months. Since the start of the recession in December, 2007, manufacturing jobs are down by 95,500 people, and the total job loss in the state is nearing 250,000 workers. In the past year, North Carolina has paid out more than $4.8 billion in unemployment benefits.
“You wonder how much more can be lost when you look at certain sectors,” said Parker. “There’s no doubt manufacturing has clearly been the hardest hit one out of all of this.”
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvilletimes.com.
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