Charlotte’s jobless rate suggests the local economy is strengthening

The Charlotte metro area’s unemployment rate fell in April as employers across a variety of industries took on more workers.

The region’s jobless rate dropped to 4 percent in April from 4.3 percent in March, according to a report Wednesday from the N.C. Commerce Department.

Employers in the metro area, which includes Concord and Gastonia, added 5,100 jobs over the month. The industries that saw the biggest gains were professional and business services, which took on 2,200 jobs, and trade, transportation and utilities, which added 1,900. Meanwhile, the area’s financial services workforce shrank by 500, according to the report.

Given the relatively small sample size, economists tend to advise against drawing conclusions about an area’s economy based on one month’s report. Instead, they point to year-over-year trends: Over the last year, the area’s workforce has grown by 27,500, representing an annualized growth rate of 2.4 percent.

A year ago, the area’s jobless rate was 4.5 percent.

Earlier this month, the N.C. Commerce Department reported that North Carolina’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in April, down from 4.9 percent the month before. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the national unemployment rank fell to 4.4 percent in April, the lowest in a decade. The department sends out the May jobs report on Friday.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Charlotte’s jobless rate suggests the local economy is strengthening."