Unemployment rates increased in Hickory Metro counties and across the state, according to the latest update from the North Carolina Department of Commerce Labor & Economic Analysis Division. The report, which shows the January unemployment numbers, was released late last week.

Catawba County’s unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, up from 2.9 in December. Alexander County’s jobless rate is 3.2 percent, up from 2.8 in December. Burke County’s unemployment rate is 3.3 percent, an increase from 2.9 in December. Caldwell County shows a jobless rate of 3.4 percent, up from 3 percent even in the last report.

The unemployment rate for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA is 3.4 percent, up from 2.9 in the December report. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton has the fourth lowest unemployment rate among 15 MSAs in the state.

The statewide unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, up from 3.2 percent in December. Unemployment rates increased in 99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, and decreased in one. Hyde County has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 10.1 percent while Buncombe, Greene, and Orange Counties were tied with the lowest jobless rate in North Carolina at 3 percent even.