Staff report

Most of North Carolina’s counties, including Rowan, saw a decrease in unemployment in February after almost all of them had an increase in January.

Rowan County’s unemployment went from 6.1 percent to 5.8 percent, and 89 counties across the state also had drops in unemployment. The statewide rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 5.7 percent in February, according to data from the state Department of Commerce.

The estimated number of unemployed people in Rowan dropped by about 200 to 3,660.

All of Rowan’s neighboring counties saw their unemployment drop slightly too. Davie County was the lowest at 4.9 percent and Davidson was the highest at 5.5 percent.

Statewide, five counties saw their rate increase while six counties saw no change. Of the state’s 100 counties, there were 14 with unemployment rates below 5 percent and 6 with rates above 10 percent in February.

Orange County, which includes Chapel Hill, had the lowest rate, 4.2 percent, in the state. Graham County, in the mountains in the western part of the state, had the highest rate at 14.2 percent.

The national unemployment rate in February and March was 5.5 percent.