Labor Market
Unemployment rates fell in every one of North Carolina’s 100 counties in September, both from August and from a year earlier, the N.C. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday, Oct. 28. The county and metro rates are not seasonally adjusted, and the September figures are preliminary.
Edgecombe County had the state’s highest rate at 4.7%, down from 5.5% in September 2025. Currituck County had the lowest at 2.3%. All 100 counties were at or below 5% in September. In the revised August figures, 97 counties were at or below that level and three were between 5% and 10%. No county was above 10% in either month.
The statewide rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 3.1%, compared with 3.6% in August and 3.7% in September 2025.
Metro areas
All 15 of North Carolina’s metropolitan areas posted lower rates than in August and than a year earlier. Raleigh had the lowest metro rate at 2.7%, down from 3.1% in August and 3.2% a year earlier. Rocky Mount had the highest at 4.2%. It was also the most improved metro over the year, down 0.9 percentage point from 5.1% in September 2025.
Elsewhere, Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia stood at 3.3%, compared with 3.9% a year earlier. Durham-Chapel Hill was at 2.8%, Greensboro-High Point at 3.4%, Winston-Salem at 3.2% and Wilmington at 3.1%. Fayetteville, at 4.0%, had the second-highest metro rate, down from 4.6% a year earlier. The Asheville metro fell to 2.8% from 3.6% a year earlier, a 0.8-point drop that trailed only Rocky Mount among the 15 metros.
Where rates remain highest
The counties with the highest rates are mostly in eastern North Carolina. After Edgecombe came Halifax at 4.6%, Bladen at 4.4%, Robeson and Washington at 4.3% each, and Bertie and Wilson at 4.2% each. Nash and Scotland were at 4.1%. Anson, Cumberland, Hyde and Vance were each at 4.0%.
The lowest rates were in Currituck and Camden, in the state’s northeastern corner, and in a cluster of mountain counties. After Currituck, Camden and Swain counties were at 2.5%, and seven counties were tied at 2.6%: Ashe, Avery, Henderson, Jackson, Stanly, Watauga and Yancey.
Biggest year-over-year moves
Northampton and Rowan counties recorded the largest declines from September 2025, 1.2 points each. Northampton fell to 3.8% from 5.0%, and Rowan fell to 3.1% from 4.3%. Five counties dropped a full point: Bladen, Buncombe, Halifax, Robeson and Yancey. Buncombe, which includes Asheville, was at 2.8%, down from 3.8%.
The smallest year-over-year declines, 0.3 point, were in Alleghany, Beaufort, Currituck, Graham and Wake. Wake County was at 2.8%, compared with 3.1% a year earlier. Mecklenburg County was at 3.3%, down from 3.8%. Its 21,640 unemployed residents were the most of any county, in a labor force of 662,350.
Fewer unemployed, but not more employed than a year ago
The statewide counts show what is behind the lower rates. The number of employed North Carolina residents rose by 79,395 from August to 5,120,418 in September, while the number of unemployed fell by 23,482 to 164,944. Compared with September 2025, however, employment was essentially flat, down 310, while the number of unemployed fell by 31,849.
In other words, the lower unemployment rate over the year reflects fewer people counted as unemployed rather than more people counted as employed.
Caveats
These estimates come from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and count people where they live, not where they work. Commerce warns that employment estimates are subject to large seasonal patterns and advises focusing on over-the-year changes in the not seasonally adjusted figures. County and metro estimates are also subject to monthly and annual revision. The next update, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 20, will carry the statewide unemployment rate for October 2026.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of Commerce, “North Carolina’s September County and Area Unemployment Figures Released,” October 28, 2026. https://www.commerce.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/10/28/north-carolinas-september-county-and-area-unemployment-figures-released
- North Carolina Department of Commerce, “Supplemental Release | September 2026 County and Area Employment Numbers,” October 28, 2026. https://www.commerce.nc.gov/supplemental-release-september-2026-county-and-area-employment-numbers/open
Featured photo: A street of brick commercial buildings in Tarboro, North Carolina, the seat of Edgecombe County, March 30, 2019. Representative image; Edgecombe had the state's highest county unemployment rate in September 2026. Photo: Indy beetle, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0). Cropped from the original.
