RALEIGH (AP) ó North Carolina’s unemployment rate climbed to 11.1 percent in May ó hitting a new peak since the state started such measurements more than three decades ago, the state Employment Security Commission said Friday.
The number of unemployed North Carolinians topped 500,000 ó an all-time high. The state’s jobless rate a year ago was 5.9 percent.
Just six states had higher unemployment rates in May, with Michigan leading the country at 14.1 percent in May and South Carolina fourth at 12.1 percent. Forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., recorded unemployment rate increases in May compared to April.
“While we continue to have job announcements in areas across North Carolina, we are still experiencing some job losses in many job sectors, this also being seen across the country,” ESC Chairman Moses Carey said.
After a long run in which government employment had some of the best job security, the sector shed 4,000 employees in May. Manufacturing continued to suffer as companies cut 3,800 workers.
Since the start of the recession in December 2007, North Carolina’s manufacturing companies have cut nearly 16 percent of their work force.
Hotels, amusement parks and other companies in the leisure and hospitality sector added 2,900 jobs in the buildup to summer.