Ray Goza installs ceiling tiles at Fayetteville Regional Airport earlier this month. (David Kennard/Greater Fayetteville Business Journal)

Jobless rate data shows slight uptick locally

By David Kennard

Greater Fayetteville Business Journal

Cumberland County’s unemployment rate increased slightly in May, according to figures just released by North Carolina’s Department of Commerce.

The unemployment rate of 6.4 percent of the county’s labor force remains far lower than May 2020 when it was 16.9 percent at the height of COVID-19 disruptions.

“Historically, the end of the school year and start of summer have often seen a small pull back in employment,” said Robert Van Geons, President and CEO of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC). “With hundreds of good jobs immediately available in Cumberland County, we’re optimistic that our overall employment trend will continue improving over the next few months. For those looking to reenter the workforce, there is no better time than now.”

Van Geons also said Cumberland County’s .2 percent increase is in keeping with, or less than neighboring counties.

Robeson County recorded the highest unemployment rate among Cumberland County’s closest neighbors, but generally the trend has continued to improve in recent months.

Harnett County rose just slightly from 4.7 percent in April to 4.9 percent in May. Likewise, Hoke County’s jobless rate jumped from 5.8 percent in April to 6.1 percent in May.

Moore County went from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent during the same period, and Robeson County went from 6.5 percent in April to 6.8 percent in May.

Sampson County posted the best results among Cumberland County’s closest neighbors, showing a jobless rate of 4.1 percent in May, up from April’s 3.8 percent.

North Carolina’s statewide average showed a very small increase from 4.4 percent in April to 4.5 percent in May.

From a big picture point of view, 92 out of 100 North Carolina counties saw their unemployment rate stay the same or go up, according to Van Geons. “So we appear  consistent with most of the state.”

Most economists generally consider a state of full employment to be anything less than an unemployment rate of 3 percent, due to frictional unemployment, which occurs as workers are in the process of moving from one job to another.

The period between April and May also saw a slight decrease in Cumberland County’s labor force from 125,987 to 124,640 — a loss of 1,347 workers.

Data released Wednesday also showed that the Fayetteville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) saw a labor force decrease from 145,824 in April to 144,306 in May — a loss of 1,518 workers. That compares to the Raleigh MSA that saw the labor force decline by 3,431 workers — 724,944 in April to 721,513 in May, according to the Department of Commerce data.