RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina’s hot job market is at its best in more than 16 years after the state’s unemployment rate improved to 4.5 percent last month.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that North Carolina saw the country’s third-best jobs increase in May, adding nearly 19,000 over the previous month. North Carolina added more than 69,000 jobs in the past year.
State unemployment rate data show May’s 4.5 percent seasonally adjusted rate was the best North Carolina has seen since January 2001, when the jobless rate was 4.4 percent.
The North Carolina’s unemployment rate was still worse than the national average, which was 4.3 percent in May.
The largest employment increases in May were professional and business services at 9,600 added jobs, followed by construction with an extra 3,300.
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