Asheville area unemployment declined in July

Posted on by David Forbes

Unemployment in both the Asheville metropolitan area and Buncombe County dropped to 8 percent in July, according to figures released by the state Employment Security Commission. However, the figures also reveal losses in government jobs and a number of other areas.

According to the figures, which are not adjusted for seasonal employment, unemployment in the Asheville metro area — including Buncombe, Haywood, Madison and Henderson counties — dropped from 8.5 to 8 percent in July, while unemployment in Buncombe dropped from 8.3 to 8 percent.

Unemployment declined in 86 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in July. However, the figures also show a loss in government jobs (3,300 lost in the Asheville metro area) attributed mainly to declines in local school employment. The professional and business services field grew by 300 jobs at the same time.

— David Forbes, senior news reporter

 

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2 thoughts on “Asheville area unemployment declined in July”

  2. Jonathan Barnard

    It’s remarkable that most of the 3,300 government job losses were in education. I’d like to know the precise figure. That’s more than 1,650 lost education jobs in a metropolitan area of only about 400,000. No wonder my daughters’ teachers at Asheville High are grumbling about class sizes.

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