Legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers would mandate recipients of unemployment benefits actively search for work, a requirement that hasn’t been in place since the pandemic began in March.
Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) increased in 55 of North Carolina’s counties in December, decreased in 28, and remained unchanged in 17. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate at 10.2 percent while Watauga County had the lowest at 4.3 percent.
NCDES Assistant Secretary Pryor Gibson told the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance on Tuesday, Jan. 26, that a combination of more money passing through the system and additional programs resulted in the overpayments.
The state’s seasonally adjusted November unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, remaining unchanged from October’s revised rate. The national rate decreased 0.2 of a percentage point to 6.7 percent.
