RALEIGH, N.C. (WHKY) – Unemployment rates increased across the Hickory Metro and statewide according to the latest update from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Labor & Economic Analysis Division. The report shows the unemployment rates for the month of July.

The unemployment rate for Catawba County is 3.6 percent, up from 3.4 percent in June. Alexander County’s jobless rate is 3.7 percent, up from 3.3 in the last report. Burke County’s unemployment rate is also 3.7 percent, up from 3.4 percent in June. The Caldwell County unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, up from 3.6 percent in the last report.

The unemployment rate for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA is 3.7 percent, up from 3.5 in the last report. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is tied for the sixth lowest unemployment rate among 15 MSAs in North Carolina.

The statewide unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, up from 3.5 in June. Unemployment rates increased in all 100 counties in the state. Edgecombe and Halifax Counties each have the highest jobless rate at 5.5 percent while Currituck has the lowest at 2.8 percent.