The unemployment rate in North Carolina has dropped 0.1 percent for the first time in eight months, according to reports from N.C. Division of Employment Security on Nov. 29.
This rate is higher than the national average, which dropped 0.4 percentage points to 8.6 percent in November. The number of unemployed persons, at 13.3 million, was also down by 594,000.
“About half a million people in North Carolina are unemployed,” according to Michael Walden, professor of economics. This drop is marginal, and the unemployment rate still remains the highest it has been for the past 18 months, Walden said.
The unemployment rate has dropped in 83 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, increased in 12 and stayed the same in 5, according to another report released by the NCDES Thursday. The report stated Currituck County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate in October, at 5.4 percent. Meanwhile, Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate, at 16.6 percent.
There was a net gain of 5,500 jobs statewide, with most of the gains being in state and local government jobs, according to the report. But overall there has been a decline in 10,000 government jobs since October 2010.
“This market will be extremely tough for graduating seniors,” Walden said. “But the possibility of finding a job will be much better than it is for those without college degrees.”
According to a report released November 2 by the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 4.4 percent, the lowest average compared to those with only an associate’s degree at 7.6 percent and those without any college degree at 8.8 percent.
The three fields with the best employment rates are “healthcare, seeing no change at all during the recession, computer science, and professional services,” Walden said.
In fact, healthcare professional and business services continued to rise in November, adding 17,000 and 33,000 jobs, respectively, according to DOL reports. Over the past four months, healthcare has added an average of 27,000 jobs per month.
Heather DeJong , senior in psychology, said the unemployment rate does worry her.
“I don’t have a job and I’m moving out next semester, so I’m going to need money to pay for an apartment,” DeJong said. “I’m pretty sure I don’t want to attend grad school, and this will make it harder for me to get a job, being a psychology major.”
DeJong said she plans to find an internship or volunteer before entering the workforce, because having experience in the field is attractive when finding employment in any area of work.
Graduating seniors will have to take into account the current employment rate of their field of work in order to decide whether intern or volunteer experience would be advantageous. Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher have an advantage over those without any college degree, but the small decline in the unemployment rate may grant little hope or guarantee of employment to college graduates.
