North Carolina’s unemployment rate rose slightly for a second straight month in September, the state Commerce Department reported on October 21, flipping incrementally a downward trend over two years during the pandemic recovery.

Last month’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.6% compared to 3.5% in August – when the first monthly increase since April 2020 was recorded. Earlier this year the rate had reached 3.4%, then the lowest rate since 2000, according to department data.

The agency said overall employment in the state was essentially flat compared to August at around 4.94 million people, but the number of unemployed grew by 4,700 to about 184,200.

Using another counting format based on monthly worksite surveys, the agency reported seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment actually grew by 17,400 to 4.82 million. The leisure and hospitality services industry and professional and business services sector saw the largest numeric increases in employment among work categories, while government saw the largest decline.

September’s U.S. unemployment rate was 3.5%.

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