Unemployment in both the Asheville metropolitan area and Buncombe County rose in November, according to data released by the state’s Employment Security Commission. Unemployment in Buncombe rose from 7.4 to 7.9 percent, while metro area unemployment rose from 7.5 to 8.1 percent.
This rise was part of a general statewide trend, as the ESC data shows unemployment rising in 99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in the same month, and the state as a whole saw 9.9 percent unemployment. The data is not seasonally adjusted.
The Asheville metropolitan area, which includes Buncombe, Haywood, Madison and Henderson counties, saw the rise in unemployment driven by losses in the hospitality, government and professional services fields, even as the education/health services and trade/utility fields saw some job gains. The unemployment remains among the lowest of the state’s 14 metropolitan areas, with its rate tied with Raleigh-Cary. Only the Jacksonville and Durham-Chapel Hill areas have lower unemployment.
By the end of November, the area had seen a net increase of 1,700 jobs over the course of the year — a one percent rise in employment — driven mostly by gains in the hospitality and government sectors. The ESC report notes that rise is the largest percentage increase in the state.
— David Forbes, senior news reporter
The statistics quoted are Labor Bureau U-3, not the more relevant U-6 which includes people under employed, (eg. engineers bagging groceries, part time workers)and “discouraged workers” whose unemployment insurance has run out and still are not employed. No longer counted (since 1994) is more than a year “discouraged workers” bringing the current estimated total to 22% as calculated using previous methods. For more info… http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts