(The Center Square) — Several North Carolina cities ranked toward the bottom of a list of 180 U.S. cities analyzed for changes in the unemployment rate over the last two years.
The personal finance website WalletHub ranked changes in the unemployment rate for 180 U.S. cities, comparing the August rate to the month prior, as well as at the same point in 2021, 2020, and 2019.
The analysis, released Wednesday, weighted each city’s current unemployment rate as half, and changes over the last month and previous three years for the remainder.
The results showed Fayetteville with the fourth-smallest decrease in the unemployment rate between August 2020 and August 2022, while the city’s overall ranking was the same.
Fayetteville’s 6.3% August unemployment rate is up 4.57% from the month prior, or 6.96% higher than in 2019. The 6.7% figure is 32.03% lower than August 2020 and 16.47% lower than the August 2021 rate, however.
Greensboro ranked in 154th place overall with a 4.8% unemployment rate in August, up 4.51% from July, and 1.35% higher than August 2019. The 4.8% is 50.53% lower than in August 2020 and 30.71% lower than August 2021.
Winston-Salem came in at 146 with a 4.4% unemployment rate in August, which was up 1.88% from July and .83% from August 2019. The rate was 41.18% lower than August 2020 and 19.63% lower than August 2021.
Charlotte’s 3.9% August unemployment rate, ranked 132nd, was up 6.45% from last month and 2.69% from 2019, though it remains 46.42% below the August 2020 rate and 18.93% below August 2021.
For Raleigh, ranked in 107th, the 3.5% August unemployment rate represented a 3.86% increase over July, though it remains 6.26% below the August 2019 rate. The August 2022 rate is 44.18% lower than August 2020 and 18.36% lower than August 2021.
Durham ranked the highest for unemployment rate change at 98th place with a 3.3% rate for August, 7.15% lower than it was in August 2019. The current unemployment rate in Durham is 44.17% lower than August 2020 and 17.94% lower than August 2021.
"The U.S. job market has healed a lot from the damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the national unemployment rate is currently at 3.7%, which is 75% lower than the peak of 14.7% during April 2020," according to WalletHub. "Unfortunately, high levels of inflation and the threat of a recession on the horizon could cause a surge in unemployment in the near future."
The top-ranked U.S. city for unemployment rate change is Hialeah, Fla., which had a 2.2% unemployment rate in August, up 3.51% from July, but down 26.85% from August 2019. Hialeah’s rate has dropped 72.19% since August 2020 and 59.05% since August 2021.
Dover, Del. ranked at the bottom of the list with a 7.2% unemployment rate in August, which came down 2.87% from July. Dover’s rate remains 14.44% higher than its August 2019 rate, though it’s down 39.78% from August 2020 and 22.31% from August 2021.