Unemployment rates drop

Watauga County's unemployment rate declined in March as the job season is heating up across the state.

The local jobless rate declined from 8.6 percent in February to 7.9 percent last month, according to statistics released by the High Country Workforce Development Board. Unemployment rates in the region also dropped, though overall unemployment rates rose by a tenth of a percent last month in North Carolina.

In Watauga County, 1,807 people are without jobs, with 492,512 people now out of work in the state.

One month after unemployment rates rose in 99 of the state's 100 counties, a drop of unemployment in 84 counties. In February, 83 counties had double-digit unemployment rates. The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metropolitan area leads the state in job losses, with unemployment reaching 15.4 percent.

March unemployment rates for surrounding counties were: Alleghany, 14.1 percent; Ashe, 13.3; Avery, 9.9; Mitchell, 13.8; Wilkes, 13.9; and Yancey, 13.1

North Carolina's unemployment rate of 10.9 percent is higher than that of the United States, which was 9 percent in March.

Watauga County continues to hold one of the lowest unemployment rates in North Carolina, currently tied for the third-lowest rate in the state behind Orange and Durham counties. All counties in the region, except for Wilkes, which rose more than half a percent, experienced a rate drop in March

More information about unemployment statistics is online at the N.C. Employment Security Commission website at www.ncesc.com.