Watauga jobless rate is state’s fifth lowest

By Frank Ruggiero

ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

Watauga County had the state’s fifth lowest unemployment rate for the month of August.

According to statistics from the Employment Security Commission (ESC) of North Carolina, the unemployment rate dropped in nearly all of the state’s 100 counties for August.

A total of 95 counties saw their rates drop from July, while two counties’ rates increased and three remained the same.

“Employment numbers continue to be strong through the state, and 88 counties have lower unemployment rates in August compared with this time last year,” ESC chairman Harry E. Payne, Jr. said in a press release.

The state’s not-seasonally adjusted employment rate decreased by 3,957 for a total of 4,261,673 employed in August. The not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 16,185 in August, due to students returning to school, the release reports. The unemployment total was 211,447, compared to July’s 227,632.

Watauga came in fifth at 3 percent for August, down .5 percent from July. The ESC statistics show Boone’s August labor force at 24,828, with 24,094 employed and 734 unemployed.

Ashe County had a rate of 5.4 percent, down .4 percent, from July, and Avery County had a rate of 4.3 percent, also down .4 percent.

Dare County boasted the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.3 percent, down .3 percent from July. Coming in second was Currituck County at 2.4 percent, up .1 percent from July.

Camden County had the state’s third lowest unemployment rate in August at 2.7 percent, down .2 percent from July, while Jackson County had fourth at 2.8 percent, down .4 percent from July.

Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 9.2 percent, down .2 percent from July.

For more information, call the Watauga County ESC at 265-5385 or visit www.ncesc.com on the Web.