Rowan County’s unemployment increased slightly in August along with most of North Carolina’s counties.
The county’s unemployment rate ticked up one tenth of a percentage point from July to August, from 6.9 percent to 7 percent. The rate has decreased. however, from 8.3 percent in August 2013, according to data released by the N.C. Department of Commerce.
Rowan County’s estimated labor force was 66,692 people with an estimated 4,670 of them unemployed, according to the data.
Neighboring counties Davie, Iredell, Stanly and Cabarrus all had a lower rate than Rowan County in August. Davie County’s rate was the lowest among the group at 5.8 percent. The other three all had rates between 6 percent and 7 percent.
Davidson County’s unemployment rate was at 7.2 percent in August.
From July to August, the unemployment rate increased in 74 counties, and the rate decreased in 12 counties. The rate stayed the same from month to month in the state’s other 14 counties.
The highest unemployment rate in the state for August was in Graham County, with a rate of 13.4 percent. The lowest rate, 4 percent, was in Currituck County.
The unemployment rate for the entire state was 7 percent in August.