The latest figures from the N.C. Employment Security Commission report an official unemployment rate of 9.7 percent for April.
That rate is unchanged from March. The rate is still higher than the national rate of 9 percent. The state rate has exceeded the national rate for the last five months.
The ESC reports private-sector job gains of 37,400 since December 2010.
Two other data points show the impact on the unemployment rate of people giving up on the job market. The number of unemployed people has dropped by 70,471 in the past year, but the number of employed people has grown by just 2,508. Something happened to those other 68,000 people. Most likely gave up active searches for jobs.
