After some improvement, the jobless rate increases again in Mecklenburg County
After improving last month, the unemployment rate ticked up in Mecklenburg County in July, a sign of a bumpy economic recovery from COVID-19, figures released by the state Wednesday indicated.
The unemployment rate in the county increased to 9.8% in July, up from 8.6% in June. That translates to 60,809 people who are out-of-work.
Unemployment rates increased in all but one of the state’s 100 counties in July.
When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit in March, restrictions to curb the spread of the virus shut down large swaths of the economy. In May, Mecklenburg County’s unemployment rate reached its highest level in at least three decades, at 13.6%.
The increase in the unemployment rate coincides with trends in COVID-19 cases over the summer, said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo.
“That caused a pullback in consumer engagement,” he said. Some businesses that had reopened also decided to close again, Vitner said, after not seeing as much business as expected.
The bulk of the layoffs have occurred in the leisure and hospitality, education and health services and trade, transportation and utilities sectors. But industries like manufacturing have also shed jobs.
‘A steep hill’
An extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits from the federal government expired at the end of July, and negotiations in Congress to extend the payments have stalled. North Carolina was approved for a federal supplement of $300 per week for unemployed workers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced last month.
Still, economists say the local economy is gradually improving, and faring better than other parts of the country.
Part of what drove the increase in the unemployment rate is that people are returning to the labor force and looking for work, said Chuck McShane, senior vice president of economic research at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.
Mecklenburg County’s labor force grew by just under 21,000 people between June and July.
“We do still have a steep hill to climb,” McShane said. “I think that the fact that we’re adding to our labor force, and people are getting back into the labor force, looking for work again, is definitely a positive sign.”
Database editor Gavin Off contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 11:54 AM.
