RALEIGH (AP) ó North Carolina job-seekers got more bad news in June as the state’s unemployment rate spent a fifth consecutive month hovering above the previous historic high of 26 years ago, the state’s Employment Security Commission reported Friday.
The state’s unemployment rate dropped a tick to 11 percent in June compared with 11.1 percent in May. The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June.
North Carolina State University economist Michael Walden predicts North Carolina’s unemployment rate will peak at about 13 percent early next year and stay above 10 percent through the end of 2010. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it expects U.S. unemployment to top 10 percent and remain high for years.
North Carolina’s unemployed still topped 500,000 in June, but the rolls showed 4,700 few people counted either because they could no longer collect unemployment benefits or found work.
Manufacturing continued to be the sector hit hardest by the recession, shedding 5,500 North Carolina jobs in June. North Carolina has lost 89,500 manufacturing jobs since the recession began in December 2007, about 17 percent of all factory jobs.
Financial services cut 2,900 jobs in June as North Carolina’s banking industry continued to suffer. Governments had the greated growth, hiring an additional 13,900 in June.