North Carolina’s unemployment rate edged up one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.1 percent in December, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce, which releases state data on employment monthly.
It’s the fourth straight month the unemployment rate in the state has ticked up after dipping to 4.6 percent in August.
Compared to a year ago, North Carolina’s December jobless rate was one-half a percentage point less than it was in December 2015, when the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. The state’s unemployment rate is still higher than the national rate, which was 4.7 percent in December.