By Shelley Smith
ssmith@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY ó Rowan Countyís unemployment rate dropped by one half of a percentage point from February to March, with 10.9 percent of Rowan residents unemployed. One year ago, 14.1 percent of residents were unemployed.
A decrease was seen in every county but one ó Greene County ó which increased from 10 percent to 10.5.
Cabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Iredell and Stanly counties each saw decreases:
Cabarrus decreased from 10.3 to 9.8 percent;
Davidson decreased from 11.4 to 10.9 percent;
Davie decreased from 10.4 to 9.7 percent;
Iredell decreased from 11.2 to 10.6 percent;
Stanly decreased from 11.1 to 10.7 percent.
The unemployment rate for North Carolina dropped from 10.1 percent in February to 9.7 percent in March.
Graham County has the highest unemployment rate at 16.4 percent, and Orange County has the lowest at 6.1 percent.
From April 2010 until March 2011, Rowan County paid out $95 million in unemployment insurance.
In a press release, Employment Security Commission Chairman Lynn R. Holmes said North Carolina is ěbeginning to see more counties drop below a rate of 10 percent unemployment.î
ěThis reflects the commitment by Gov. Perdue and our workforce partners to grow jobs in our state, and this agency remains focused on putting people back to work,î he said.
Forty counties are currently below 10 percent unemployment, with 60 counties at 10 percent or higher.
Over the past year, the average drop in percentage points for Rowan, Cabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Iredell and Stanly is 2.96.
And Rowan is among only 11 counties whose unemployment fell more than three percentage points over the past year.