Guilford County unemployment up in January
Guilford County's unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in January from 4.5 percent in December, according to a report from the state's Employment Security Commission.
And Guilford wasn't alone. Unemployment rates increased in 98 of the state's 100 counties during January.
"Not seasonally adjusted employment decreased 1.3 percent during the month due to students leaving part-time holiday jobs, construction slowdowns due to the weather and other seasonal factors," ESC Chairman Harry Payne said in a news release.
Payne tempered the bad news, however, by noting that statewide employment grew by more than 101,750 workers during the past year.
More details, after the jump ...
In Guilford County, 234,379 people were employed during January, while 11,960 reported for unemployment benefits.
Over in Forsyth County, the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percent from December to January, to settle at 4.5 percent with 7,811 people filing for benefits.
In Alamance, the January rate was 5.6 percent - up 0.5 percent from December.
Total county employment (and these numbers aren't seasonally adjusted) for January dropped by 57,053 from December, for a total of more than 4.25 million works throughout the state during the first month of the year. The labor force fell by more than 43,000 workers from December to January.
Orange County had the state's lowest rate - 3.1 percent - in January. Hyde County - at 10.5 percent - had the highest rate.