North Carolina’s unemployment rate held relatively stable between August and September, mirroring a national trend despite the Federal Reserve Board’s interest rates hikes to combat high inflation.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from August’s revised rate and a decrease of 0.5 percentage points from a year ago.
Total nonfarm employment in the state increased by 10,100 to 4.95 million, following a similar increase in August. Major sectors seeing increases included education and health services, with 4,900 jobs added, professional and business services, with 3,700 jobs added, and trade, transportation and utilities, with 3,400 jobs added.
Major industries experiencing decreases included leisure and hospitality, down 1,600 jobs, financial activities, down 1,100 jobs, and manufacturing, which was down 900 jobs.
The technology sector also didn’t follow with good news on unemployment figures, according to the North Carolina Technology Association, a nonprofit trade association for the state’s technology industry.
The organization’s monthly snapshot of jobs showed a decrease of a little more than 2,900 tech job postings between August and September and nearly 15,000 jobs between September 2022 and this year.
“Posting totals for IT jobs are down year over year, as well as lower in September than in August,” said the organization in the release. “The current tech job market is not what it was a year ago. For the entire year of 2022, job postings were at record levels. Now, companies are still hiring, but numbers are significantly lower. While opportunities may be more selective, there’s a wealth of talent ready for their next job.”
September’s national jobs report defied expectations of a hiring slowdown — the economy added 336,000 jobs during the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment held steady at 3.8 percent between August and September.
