According to the most recent report, unemployment rates decreased or remained the same in Hickory Metro counties. Statewide, a majority of counties saw unemployment rate decreases in the recent update. The report, which shows the March unemployment rates, was released earlier this month by the North Carolina Department of Commerce Labor & Economic Analysis Division.

Catawba County’s unemployment rate is 3.3 percent according to the update, unchanged from the previous month’s report. Alexander County’s March jobless rate is 3 percent even, down from 3.1 percent in February. Burke County’s unemployment rate also decreased slightly, from 3.3 percent to 3.2. Caldwell County shows a jobless rate of 3.4 percent, unchanged from the previous report.

The unemployment rate for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA is 3.3 percent, unchanged from the February report. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton has the fifth lowest unemployment rate among 15 MSAs in the state.

The statewide unemployment rate is 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 in the previous report. Unemployment rates decreased in 61 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, increased in 12, and remained unchanged in 27. Hyde County has the highest unemployment rate in the state, while Buncombe County has the lowest at 2.8 percent.