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Initial jobless claims continue to fall in Mecklenburg County, and for the first time this year have dipped below last year's levels, new government data show.
About 3,860 people filed for unemployment insurance in October, down 7 percent from October 2008, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission. That's a vast improvement from year-to-year gains of 20 percent in recent months and 75 percent early this year.
Because they track the pace of layoffs, first-time jobless claims are a more timely indicator of an economy's health than the unemployment rate, which is calculated through models and estimates. The number of initial claims has been falling month-to-month since June, when many economists declared the recession over.
Despite hopeful signs, the employment situation remains grim. Mecklenburg's unemployment rate was 11 percent in September, and since the recession began, more than 92,000 people countywide - 20 percent of the work force - have filed first-time unemployment claims.
ESC officials say 770 people in Mecklenburg have exhausted their unemployment benefits in the last two months, and almost twice that many will run out in the next two months. It will likely take several more months for companies to begin hiring again, economists say.
