Asheville area unemployment declines

Unemployment in the Asheville metro area dropped last month, from 10.2 percent to 9.4 percent, according to statistics from the state’s Employment Security Commission. The decline was part of a drop in unemployment in every county in North Carolina.

After a massive rise at the beginning of the year, unemployment declined in March in the metro area, which includes Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Haywood counties. Buncombe County saw a decline from 9.7 percent to 8.9 percent over the same time period. Both the metro area and county remain under the average state unemployment rate of 10.9 percent.

According to the statistics, much of the job growth in the Asheville area came from the hospitality, construction and service sectors.

— David Forbes, staff writer

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17 thoughts on “Asheville area unemployment declines

  1. StillUnemployed

    The numbers went down because benefits have been exhausted and not because people have found jobs. The numbers never show the true picture of how many people are actually unemployed. It only shows the number of people who are currently receiving benefits or filing new claims.

  2. snap

    Don’t let the numbers fool you. They’re hiring for the upcoming tourist season. They are neither permanent nor high paying jobs.

  3. I guess the multi-national corporations that really run this country have not found a way to ship all our jobs in construction, hospitality, and the service sector, overseas……yet

  4. Jane

    Do the unemployment rates reflect the individuals who’s benefits ran out or those who are now employed? It should not show this because it doesn’t necessarily mean they are employed. I’m curious about the statistics in this area.

  5. Asheville Dweller

    The unemployment rates DO NOT reflect those individuals that Benefits have ran out.

  6. JWTJr

    The press does a terrible job of presenting ‘seasonally adjusted’ employment rates. My guess is either they don’t understand the concept or its just another blatant misrepresentation of the facts in order to create a more salacious headline. I wonder if the stats would have been presented the same way when W was in charge?

  7. dpewen

    Of course they were … do you really think the government wants you to know the real truth? Oh and Tim … do you have a job?

  8. Dionysis

    “They’re hiring for the upcoming tourist season.”

    Construction jobs have nothing to do with the tourist season (at least not directly), one of the areas increasing hiring. Also, notice that all counties in the state had a drop in unemployment, and most of the counties in the state do not depend upon tourism.

  9. JWTJr

    Construction hiring in the spring always happens and is a factor when economists seasonally adjust the unemployment rate so real comparisons can be made.

    Compare this year’s season to other years and you’ll get a statistic that means something.

  10. Piffy!

    [b]Construction hiring in the spring always happens and is a factor when economists seasonally adjust the unemployment rate so real comparisons can be made[/b]

    True, except that just a few posts earlier you claimed they were related to tourism, and construction is not related to tourism, so now your shifting your approach.

    [b]I wonder if the stats would have been presented the same way when W was in charge?[/b]

    Yes, clearly the mx is a liberal commie rag and so you better just read the citizen times, that bastion of real american news.

  11. JWTJr

    I never mentioned tourism. I only discussed the seasonal adjustment of unemployment rates and how the press reports the stats poorly.

  12. “I guess the multi-national corporations that really run this country have not found a way to ship all our jobs in construction, hospitality, and the service sector, overseas…”

    It’s pretty easy to use the term “multi-national corporations” and imagine that the chains have no local roots. I recently realized that there are local owners to the chains. There are local employees. The difference between the locals and multi nationals is that the locals have to figure out their own interior decorations. There’s still locals working both kinds of businesses.

  13. Killarue

    Asheville area unemployment declines

    Hmmm, I don’t read anything salacious in the title, although I don’t tend to think of economics in lustful terms.

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