North Carolina’s unemployment rate has now declined every month for the past year. The state Commerce Department announced Friday that September's seasonally adjusted rate was 4.2% compared to 4.3% in August. The number of additional employed workers again outpaced the additional number of people entering the state’s labor force. The last time North Carolina’s rate increased was in September 2020. A 12-month streak of lower rates began the following month. The rate exceeded 13% during COVID-19 lockdowns and commerce restrictions in spring 2020. The national rate last month was 4.8%.