Counties With the Highest Unemployment in North Carolina

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Counties with the highest unemployment in North Carolina

While significantly lower than the alarming pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, unemployment rates remain a subject of concern, though experts' views on a potential recession are mixed. The last economic recession—the Great Recession of 2007-2009—sent rates up to 10% as of October 2009. It was not until the spring of 2019 that unemployment finally went down to the same level it sits at now.

As of May 2023, national unemployment is at 3.4%, with little change from April. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates by state demonstrate a rather sizable spectrum, ranging from just 1.9% in South Dakota to 5.4% in Nevada.

Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in North Carolina using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in May 2023, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

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#50. Person County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,203 people (676 unemployed)

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#49. Franklin County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 34,658 people (1,222 unemployed)

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#48. Craven County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 42,461 people (1,495 unemployed)

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#47. Cleveland County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 49,735 people (1,720 unemployed)

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#46. Randolph County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 66,518 people (2,336 unemployed)

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#45. Alamance County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 84,272 people (2,918 unemployed)

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#44. Forsyth County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 192,033 people (6,671 unemployed)

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#43. Clay County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,300 people (156 unemployed)

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#42. Mitchell County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,099 people (219 unemployed)

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#41. Montgomery County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,218 people (404 unemployed)

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#40. Columbus County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 24,498 people (873 unemployed)

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#39. Moore County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 42,397 people (1,528 unemployed)

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#38. Chowan County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,952 people (222 unemployed)

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#37. Cherokee County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,263 people (420 unemployed)

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#36. Wayne County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 51,863 people (1,940 unemployed)

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#35. Perquimans County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,074 people (195 unemployed)

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#34. Jackson County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 19,797 people (747 unemployed)

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#33. Lee County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 26,133 people (1,006 unemployed)

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#32. Wilkes County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 26,882 people (1,016 unemployed)

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#31. Rockingham County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 40,074 people (1,536 unemployed)

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#30. Harnett County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 55,679 people (2,187 unemployed)

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#29. Guilford County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 263,815 people (10,248 unemployed)

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#28. Anson County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,415 people (415 unemployed)

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#27. Pasquotank County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,896 people (668 unemployed)

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#26. Beaufort County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,210 people (810 unemployed)

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#25. Brunswick County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 59,659 people (2,407 unemployed)

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#24. Onslow County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 70,586 people (2,794 unemployed)

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#23. Pitt County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 89,627 people (3,560 unemployed)

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#22. Bladen County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,842 people (616 unemployed)

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#21. Graham County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,933 people (126 unemployed)

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#20. Martin County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 8,684 people (377 unemployed)

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#19. Alleghany County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,785 people (209 unemployed)

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#18. Bertie County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,033 people (308 unemployed)

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#17. Hoke County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,287 people (901 unemployed)

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#16. Rutherford County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 24,786 people (1,088 unemployed)

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#15. Northampton County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,288 people (329 unemployed)

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#14. Richmond County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 17,092 people (764 unemployed)

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#13. Nash County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 42,554 people (1,904 unemployed)

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#12. Tyrrell County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,385 people (64 unemployed)

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#11. Hyde County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,847 people (86 unemployed)

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#10. Washington County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 4,326 people (209 unemployed)

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#9. Hertford County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,436 people (407 unemployed)

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#8. Cumberland County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 127,476 people (6,067 unemployed)

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#7. Halifax County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,181 people (961 unemployed)

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#6. Wilson County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 33,916 people (1,684 unemployed)

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#5. Robeson County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 48,153 people (2,390 unemployed)

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#4. Warren County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,488 people (338 unemployed)

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#3. Vance County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,759 people (899 unemployed)

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#2. Edgecombe County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,313 people (1,119 unemployed)

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#1. Scotland County

- May unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.3%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,277 people (712 unemployed)