North Carolina Jobless Rate Falls For Ninth Straight Month

North Carolina's unemployment rate has fallen for the ninth consecutive month. The state Commerce Department reports the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.6% in June, compared to 4.8% in May. It's a streak of declining rates going back to October.  Data released by the agency show more people entered North Carolina’s labor force and were hired in June compared to the month before. Figures in May had signaled a decline in the number of people actively seeking work. The unemployment rate sits well below levels at the height of COVID-19 commerce restrictions last year, when the jobless rate soared to 13.5%.