Source: North Carolina Department of Commerce

Raleigh, N.C. – The state’s seasonally adjustedSeasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that attempts to measure and remove the influences of predictable seasonal patterns to reveal how employment and unemployment change from month to month.

Over the course of a year, the size of the labor force, the levels of employment and unemployment, and other measures of labor market activity undergo fluctuations due to seasonal events including changes in weather, harvests, major holidays, and school schedules. Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year, their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by seasonally adjusting the statistics from month to month.

These seasonal adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical, underlying trend, and other nonseasonal movements in the series.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics February 2024 unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, unchanged from January’s revised rate. The national rate increased 0.2 of a percentage point to 3.9 percent.

North Carolina’s unemployment rate increased 0.1 of a percentage point from a year ago. The number of people employed increased 3,135 over the month to 5,071,461 and increased 50,979 over the year. The number of people unemployed decreased 1,265 over the month to 184,472 and increased 6,541 over the year.                                                                                 

Seasonally adjusted Total Nonfarm employment, as gathered through the monthly establishment survey, increased 5,800 to 4,981,500 in February. Major industries experiencing increases were Other Services, 2,300; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 1,700; Education & Health Services, 1,300; Professional & Business Services, 1,200; Government, 1,000; Financial Activities, 200; and Information, 200. Major industries experiencing decreases were Construction, 900; Manufacturing, 900; Leisure & Hospitality Services, 200; and Mining & Logging, 100.

Since February 2023, Total Nonfarm jobs increased 71,600 with the Total Private sector increasing by 54,400 and Government increasing by 17,200. Major industries experiencing increases were Education & Health Services, 24,800; Government, 17,200; Leisure & Hospitality Services, 12,200; Construction, 7,600; Financial Activities, 7,100; Other Services, 5,300; Professional & Business Services, 2,900; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 2,300; and Mining & Logging, 100. Major industries experiencing decreases were Manufacturing, 4,900; and Information, 3,000.