29-05-2025
City job market remains steady
HIGH POINT — The local unemployment rate released Wednesday reflects the remarkable recovery of the economy from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.
The city unemployment rate was 4% last month. By contrast, the High Point jobless level five years ago as the pandemic emerged was 17.4%, one of the highest rates since the state began keeping North Carolina municipal jobless numbers in 1976.
The city jobless rate reached over 10% — the sign of a struggling job market — for four consecutive months from April to July of 2020.
Last month, the city jobless rate was down from 4.3% in March and 4.1% in April of last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
'Unemployment remains well below 5%, often considered a standard for a healthy job market,' said Mike McCully, associate professor of economics at High Point University. 'The job market has been extremely resilient after recovering from the COVID crisis in 2020.'
McCully told The High Point Enterprise that economic sectors continue to be mixed compared to a year ago.
'The metro area is doing well in the education sector and professional services,' he said. 'The sectors facing greater challenges are local manufacturing, leisure and hospitality.'
Statewide, unemployment rates decreased in all 100 counties from March to April, the N.C. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday. All 15 of the state's metropolitan areas posted rate decreases over the month.
When compared to the same month last year, unemployment rates increased in 87 counties, decreased in five and remained unchanged in eight. Fourteen metropolitan areas recorded rate increases over the year, and one remained unchanged.
However, all 100 North Carolina counties posted April jobless rates at or below 5%, historically the indicator of a healthy local job market. In March, 92 counties recorded rates at or below 5%.
No counties posted unemployment rates in March and April at or above 10%, the sign of a struggling local job market.
The number of workers employed statewide increased in April by 347 to 5.106 million while the number unemployed decreased by 14,207 to 180,760. Since April 2024, the number of workers employed statewide has decreased by 10,602, while the number unemployed has increased by 14,194.
