State Unemployment Rates on the Rise

By Andrew Doud
Reporter
Published: January 6, 2009

The recession has been tough on everyone; in fact our state now has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 7.8 percent.

Here in the east, five counties are higher than the state average and three others match it.

Danny Alston, manager of the Employment Security Commission in Pitt County says, “It’s really tough out there right now for people looking for jobs.“

Over the last few months, he says things have gone from bad to worse.

“The last six months has probably been the toughest times we’ve seen since I’ve been here,“ said Alston.

Between October and November this year, unemployment in Pitt County has gone up more than half a percent and people we spoke with at the ESC say some days when they get in, people are lined up out the door and around the corner.

In fact the state unemployment average jumped nearly a full percentage point in that same time period.

The dean of ECU’s College of Business, Dr. Rick Niswander, says it’s a sign of the times.

“It’s indicative of what’s happening in the economy right now and it’s not going to get any better for a while,“ said Niswander.

He says if anything is going to change it’s not going to be for at least six months but he says people shouldn’t get too wrapped up in the numbers.

“We tend to get lost in these little spikes up or little spikes down and make some kind of interpretation from that where as we should be looking over a long period of time,“ said Niswander.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows over the last three years, those numbers have been steadily increasing.

So if you are looking for a job Alston said, “You just have to take what’s out there.“