The latest state unemployment data reveals that the number of residents filing unemployment insurance claims has increased while the unemployment rate has dropped.
According to the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, the unemployment rate for Durham County was 7.7 percent in October—a decrease from 8.1 percent in September. The county rate is lower than the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.4 percent in October, which has held fairly steady over the past several months.
Larry Parker, acting public information director of the N.C. Employment Security Commission, noted that the state’s job market is on the recovery, though progress has been slow.
“We’ve lost a lot of jobs since the recession, so it’s going to take a lot of time to get back,” Parker said. “It’s a slow gain, but we’re getting there.”
North Carolina added 5,500 jobs in October, 700 of which were located in the private sector. At the same time, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 3,327 since September, and the number of people making claims increased by 480.
Due to the fact that more people are entering the labor force, the unemployment rate may see a decrease even though the total number of unemployed people actually increases, said Seth Sanders, professor of economics and public policy and director of the Duke Population Research Institute.
The N.C. unemployment rate of 10.4 percent is greater than the national average of 9 percent. Since November 2010, North Carolina’s rate has been higher than the national rate.
Duke—which employs approximately 33,000 people across the University and health system—is weathering the trend fairly well, Vice President for Administration Kyle Cavanaugh said. Job applications have steadily increased since the economic downturn—averaging approximately 13,000 per month, he added.
“In general, since the economic downturn, the hiring numbers at the University have essentially been steady,” Cavanaugh said. “We do expect and project that we will see some hiring increases in the health system, predominantly driven by the new Cancer Center and the Duke Medical Pavilion.”
Cavanaugh attributed the University’s success to the increased demand in its necessary and relevant services for the community.
“The demand for higher education has remained strong, and the demand for health care has not only remained strong, it has continued to grow,” he said.
Sectors such as government, professional and business services and education and health services experienced the largest growth in employment—a .7 percent increased in employment from September to October. According to the ESC, the changes may be due in part to seasonal patterns, especially in the government sector.
Some employers in North Carolina have not needed to make major changes in their hiring practices.
Duke Energy, which has headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., has maintained a steady number of employees and currently employs 18,000, noted Duke Energy spokesman Dave Scanzoni.
Duke Energy’s steady employment numbers is partly due to the nature of its product—electricity is necessary regardless of the economic situation, Scanzoni said. Even so, usage patterns of both industrial and residential customers have changed, he added.
“We’re seeing reduced operations of major industrial facilities, some of which have closed down,” Scanzoni said. “There is usually—year to year—a small increase in our residential use, but that hasn’t been happening over the past couple of years. Those customers have pretty much been flat.”
Sanders noted that the economy appears to be improving, though pinpointing the precise moment of recovery is difficult.
“The problem is that a recession is backwards looking,” Sanders said. “We really don’t know if we are in a recession—we only know that we have been in a recession. As far as we can tell, it looks like we are in a recovery.”
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