County jobless rate

hits third place
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

Watauga County boasted the state’s third lowest unemployment rate for December 2007, despite a very slight increase.

An increase was the norm for most of North Carolina’s 100 counties, according to the Employment Security Commission (ESC) of North Carolina.

Seventy-four counties saw increases in unemployment from November to December of last year, though rates decreased in 77 counties throughout the entire course of 2007.

“Since January 2007, we see that more than three-quarters of the state’s counties have lower unemployment rates,” ESC chairman Harry Payne said in a press release. “Looking at these numbers over a longer time period gives us a better idea of how particular counties or regions are doing throughout the state.”

Payne added that the state’s not-seasonally adjusted rate of 4.7 percent remains low.

Watauga County had a December rate of 3.4 percent, up .1 percent from November. Watauga historically boasts a low unemployment rate during the winter months, when the skiing and hospitality industries are in full swing.

The ESC’s labor statistics measures Boone’s December labor force at 24,439, with 23,600 employed and 839 unemployed.

Watauga County shared its rate of 3.4 percent with Buncombe and Wake counties.

Orange County had the lowest December rate of 2.9 percent, down .1 percent from the previous month.

Currituck County typically boasts the lowest rate in the state but, for December, showed a considerable increase of 1.3 percent for a rate of 4.4 percent.

Henderson County had the state’s second lowest rate of 3.2 percent, down .2 percent from November.

Ashe County had a rate of 5.1 percent, up .9 percent from November, while Avery County’s rate of 5 percent for December showed a .1 percent increase from the previous month.

Scotland County again had the state’s highest rate, with December’s at 9.7 percent, up .1 percent from November.

According to the ESC, statewide, total county employment (not-seasonally adjusted) decreased for the third straight month in December by 40,703 workers from 4,328,837 to 4,288,134.

The statewide total for unemployment in December was 211,836, up 3,058 from November.

For more information, call the Watauga County ESC at (828) 265-5385 or visit www.ncesc.com on the Web.