The North Carolina General Assembly is slated to give final approval to the state’s new congressional and legislative district maps on Thursday. The three proposal boundary maps moved quickly through committees and floor votes this week. During Thursday’s sessions the House is slated to pass the map for U.S. congressional seats in North Carolina, and the map for N.C. Senate districts. The Senates will consider the N.C. House district map.
Additional federal unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire on Sept. 6, as the pandemic emergency employment compensation and pandemic unemployment assistance programs are ending. These programs are paying an additional $300 a week to eligible unemployment applicants. Many feel that the extra payments are preventing people from returning to work. In fact, a majority of states have already ended the extra benefit for workers prior to the programs’ termination next week.
Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) decreased in 99 of North Carolina’s counties in July and remained unchanged in one. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate at 9.1 percent while Avery County had the lowest at 3.5 percent.
Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) increased in 99 of North Carolina’s counties in June and decreased in one. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate at 9.4 percent while Orange County had the lowest at 3.7 percent.
The state’s seasonally adjusted May unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, decreasing 0.2 of a percentage point from April’s revised rate. The national rate decreased 0.3 of a percentage point to 5.8 percent.
The state House has voted to make North Carolina the 26th state to withdraw from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which provides an extra $300-a-week in jobless benefits to the unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NFIB State Director Gregg Thompson released the following statement today on the latest version of Senate Bill 116, legislation that addresses the state's worsening lack of job applications by ending the federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits ahead of schedule as 26 states already have done.
The latest estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show about 251,000 North Carolinians unemployed as of April, down about 58,000 since the beginning of 2021.
An executive order issued by Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday, May 21, requires recipients of unemployment benefits to prove they are searching for work to continue receiving benefits. The move makes North Carolina part of a growing number of states to reimplement the work-search requirement.
Governor Roy Cooper today issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Commerce to encourage and help people who are receiving unemployment benefits transition back into employment.
President Joe Biden wants you to believe that there is no relationship between the extra $300 a week many are receiving in enhanced unemployment-insurance benefits and the shortage of workers now manifest in stores, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses here in North Carolina and across the country.
Governor Roy Cooper today issued an Executive Order that the Department of Commerce will increase efforts to help North Carolinians who file for unemployment benefits return to work.
