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North Carolina’s employment levels kept rising in December, sending the state’s already declining jobless rate further downward, the state Commerce Department announced on Tuesday.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%, compared to 3.9% in November. The U.S. rate for December was 3.9%.

North Carolina hasn’t logged a rising monthly unemployment rate since September 2020, as the state’s economy has rebounded from earlier COVID-19 lockdowns and business restrictions with gusto.

The number of people employed rose in December by about 25,900 people to 4.87 million, while those unemployed fell by almost 9,900 to 188,400, according to a department news release. In December 2020, those unemployed totaled nearly 309,000.

Using another counting format based on monthly worksite surveys, seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment rose by 20,000 to about 4.58 million. The leisure and hospitality services sector saw the largest employment growth among the accounted categories, increasing 1.5% to 483,000 workers, according to survey data.

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