The latest unemployment rates have been released by the North Carolina Department of Commerce Labor & Economic Analysis Division. Jobless rates increased across much of the state and in all of the Hickory Metro counties. The statistics are for May, 2023.

Catawba County’s unemployment rate is 3.3 percent, up from 2.9 in the last report. Alexander County is at 3 percent even, an increase from 2.7 percent. Burke County has a jobless rate of 3.4 percent, up from 2.9 in the April report. Caldwell County’s unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, up from 3.0.

The unemployment rate for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA is 3.3 percent, up from 2.9 in April. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton has the sixth lowest unemployment rate among 15 MSAs in the state.

The statewide unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, up from 3.1 in April. Unemployment rates increased in 95 counties and decreased in five. The state’s highest unemployment rate is in Scotland County, which is at 6.3 percent. Buncombe County has the lowest jobless rate in North Carolina at 2.7 percent.