Local jobless rate

edged upward in February
From staff reports

Watauga County alone recorded single-digit unemployment in February, a report by the High Country Workforce Development Board revealed Wednesday.

The report shows that Watauga’s jobless rate, at 8.6 percent, almost mirrors the national rate of 8.9 percent while other High Country counties continued to trend upward (see table below).

Watauga’s rate edged upward from 8.1 percent in January.

Overall, the High Country region saw a .8 percent increase from January.

In February, the unemployment rate increased in 99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties compared to January, when an increase touched every county in the state.

There are 42 N.C. counties with an unemployment rate at or lower than the state unemployment rate of 11.3 percent.

Graham (17.9 percent) and Dare (17.1 percent) counties have the highest unemployment rates in North Carolina with High Country neighboring counties, Caldwell (16.5 percent) and Burke (16.0 percent) counties showing the sixth and eighth highest unemployment rates in the state.

Only one county in North Carolina, Caswell County, experienced a drop in its unemployment rate – down to 13 percent from 13.2 percent in January.

Watauga County continues to have the sixth-lowest unemployment rate (8.6 percent) in the state behind Orange (6.5 percent), Durham (8.0 percent), Wake (8.3 percent), Chatham (8.5 percent), and Gates (8.5 percent) counties.

However, six counties in the seven-county High Country Workforce Development Board region, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Wilkes and Yancey, exceeded the 10 percent unemployment rate in January and went even higher in February – with Alleghany County’s unemployment rate at more than 15 percent. The region’s February unemployment rate is higher than the state rate of 11.3 percent.

For more detailed information about unemployment statistics, visit the N.C. Employment Security Commission Web site at www.ncesc.com.

For regional workforce information, visit the High Country Workforce Development Board Web site at www.highcountrywdb.com.

Feb. Unemployment
Alleghany 15.3
Ashe 14.8
Avery 10.7
Mitchell 15.0
Watauga 8.6
Wilkes 13.2
Yancey 14.5
High Country 12.4
North Carolina 11.3
United States 8.9