Counties with the highest unemployment in North Carolina

The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.

Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.

Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.

The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.

To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in North Carolina, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, 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.

Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market

February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.

"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.

Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.

The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market

After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.

Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.

The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.

In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."

"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.

To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in North Carolina.

50. Macon County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,442 people (659 unemployed)

44. Jones County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,866 people (158 unemployed)

44. Wilkes County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 25,810 people (1,069 unemployed)

44. Montgomery County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,455 people (432 unemployed)

44. Cherokee County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,151 people (455 unemployed)

44. Transylvania County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,986 people (574 unemployed)

44. Pitt County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 83,660 people (3,397 unemployed)

40. Hertford County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: -0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,384 people (355 unemployed)

40. Alleghany County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,569 people (193 unemployed)

40. Rockingham County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 40,049 people (1,665 unemployed)

40. Perquimans County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,700 people (240 unemployed)

34. Guilford County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 264,533 people (11,428 unemployed)

34. Burke County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 40,227 people (1,732 unemployed)

34. Pasquotank County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 18,079 people (769 unemployed)

34. Martin County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,105 people (392 unemployed)

34. Pamlico County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,653 people (202 unemployed)

34. Jackson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,205 people (830 unemployed)

29. Haywood County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 29,774 people (1,319 unemployed)

29. Richmond County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,238 people (845 unemployed)

29. Cleveland County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 45,704 people (1,994 unemployed)

29. Sampson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 24,160 people (1,056 unemployed)

29. Graham County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: -0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,449 people (153 unemployed)

28. Swain County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +1.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,253 people (284 unemployed)

25. Brunswick County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 66,049 people (3,069 unemployed)

25. Hoke County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,789 people (947 unemployed)

25. Columbus County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,964 people (923 unemployed)

23. Vance County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 18,714 people (874 unemployed)

23. Anson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,908 people (419 unemployed)

22. Nash County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 42,586 people (2,043 unemployed)

21. Cumberland County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 133,024 people (6,564 unemployed)

18. Northampton County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,500 people (330 unemployed)

18. Washington County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,941 people (200 unemployed)

18. Wilson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 34,736 people (1,770 unemployed)

16. Bladen County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,885 people (621 unemployed)

16. Warren County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: -0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,131 people (368 unemployed)

12. Avery County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +2.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,536 people (399 unemployed)

12. Halifax County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 18,288 people (976 unemployed)

12. Robeson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 45,621 people (2,409 unemployed)

12. McDowell County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +2.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,000 people (1,000 unemployed)

11. Bertie County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,966 people (321 unemployed)

10. Edgecombe County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,556 people (1,136 unemployed)

9. Rutherford County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 26,427 people (1,473 unemployed)

8. Scotland County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.7%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,114 people (750 unemployed)

7. Yancey County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +2.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,648 people (506 unemployed)

5. Madison County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +3.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,997 people (694 unemployed)

5. Tyrrell County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.3%
--- 1-month change: +2.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,267 people (80 unemployed)

4. Buncombe County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +3.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 144,990 people (9,813 unemployed)

3. Dare County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.1%
--- 1-month change: +3.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 17,378 people (1,227 unemployed)

2. Mitchell County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +3.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,158 people (525 unemployed)

1. Hyde County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.3%
--- 1-month change: +3.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,603 people (133 unemployed)

This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.