The local economy of North Carolina and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
3.5%
August 2026, 3.9% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,515
Q1 2026, 4,942,709 jobs
New homes permitted
87,853
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
+69,419
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for North Carolina, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for North Carolina is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in North Carolina was 3.5% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 3.9% a year earlier. 5,049,056 people were employed out of a labor force of 5,231,098. Among its counties, Currituck County had the lowest rate (2.7%) and Edgecombe County the highest (5.4%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in North Carolina was $1,515 in Q1 2026, up 3.3% from a year earlier, across 4,942,709 jobs at 375,319 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 8,399 new homes in North Carolina in August 2026 (5,261 single-family and 3,057 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 64,183, up 7.4% from the same months last year, and 87,853 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Wake County (14,581), Durham County (5,303), Brunswick County (5,171) over the last 12 months.
Yes. From 2022 to 2023, 301,349 people moved to North Carolina and 231,930 moved away, a net gain of 69,419 (+8.6 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, and most people who left went to South Carolina, Florida, Virginia.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for North Carolina. In its region, Lower Atlantic, regular gasoline averaged $4.20 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.