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The North Carolina unemployment rate has risen to 5.5 percent in April from its previous standing at 5.4 percent in March. According to the state Commerce Department, this is the first time in 11 months that the state’s unemployment rate was higher than the national average.
The national average unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 percent. The last time the national average of those who are jobless was less than the state average was last June.
Chairman of the economics department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Patrick Conway said he feels the reason for the rise in the unemployment rate last month was due to the fact that North Carolina’s labor force rose by 65,000 between February and April while the entire country grew by about 70,000 in that same period.
Although the numbers are a bit alarming, Conway says that he doesn’t look at it in a completely negative way “People are coming back into the labor force after being discouraged, That unemployment is rising is an indication of people newly back in the job market and still looking for work. I interpret that in a positive way.”
Behind construction, hospitality and leisure jobs such as those in restaurants and hotels were the next big gainers over the past year. Government jobs also showed major growth in April by adding 5,000 positions.
Chairman Conway suggested that as the post-recession economy improves and tax collections increase state and local governments may slowly begin rehiring for those positions that were previously lost. On the other hand, manufacturing jobs which initially paid an average of $16.86 an hour in April has declined last month and seems to be growing slowly.
As for the jobs that are being created Conway does agree that the fact that they may not have as high of a wage that they previously did will be more of a concern moving forward.
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