Buncombe County’s unemployment rated dropped below 5 percent in December, the North Carolina Department of Commerce reported let week.
While the county’s rate fell to 4.8 percent, Asheville’s also dropped to 5 percent.
The department’s Division of Employment Security said in a press release that unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) decreased in 86 of North Carolina’s counties in De- cember, increased in 11 and remained the same in three. All 14 of the State’s metro areas experienced rate decreases.
Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate at 12.6 percent while Orange County had the lowest at 4.1 percent. Among the Metro areas, Rocky Mount at 9.4 percent experienced the highest rate and Durham-Chapel Hill at 4.9 percent had the lowest. The December not seasonally adjusted statewide rate was 6.6 percent.
When compared to the same month last year, not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates decreased in all 100 counties. All 14 metro areas experienced rate decreases over the year.
The number of workers employed statewide (not seasonally adjusted) decreased in December by 32,140 to 4,315,366, while those unemployed decreased 17,561 to 305,196. Since December 2012, the number of workers employed statewide increased 29,050, while those unemployed decreased 140,214.
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