Twelve WNC counties have 10.1 percent or higher unemployment

Posted on by Kathleen O. Davis

A dozen Western North Carolina counties in February had unemployment rates higher than 10.1 percent, the state’s overall unadjusted rate, according to the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina.

And “unless you’re in Buncombe, Henderson or Polk counties, the rates (in Western North Carolina) were 9.6 percent or higher,” said Larry Parker, acting public information director for the state Employment Security Commission. “There’s still clearly a long way to go with unemployment in the western part of the state.”

One piece of good news from the data was that unemployment rates in each of the 17 westernmost counties had decreased since January.

Data released today by the state agency indicated Swain County had the highest unemployment rate in the state for February with a rate of 18.1 percent, down from 18.3 percent in January. Buncombe County had the lowest unemployment rate in Western North Carolina with 8.1 percent, a drop from 8.4 percent the prior month.

For the full story, go to CarolinaPublicPress.org.

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One thought on “Twelve WNC counties have 10.1 percent or higher unemployment”

  1. F Alf

    Yeah because everyone’s elibility has ran out, the new ones aren’t being approved cause there isnt any money, so of course the numbers would drop. Get a clue people use a real benchmarking system.

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