2011 jobless rate wasn't good enough for government work.

• Position: Statewide

December's silver lining--statewide unemployment ducking under 10% to 9.9% for the first time in five months--briefly obscured a more troubling storm cell for North Carolina's workforce. Although the national average and those of our closest neighbors decreased, the Tar Heel unemployment rate grew in 2011. "We're going sideways," says James Kleckley, director of the Bureau of Business Research at East Carolina University. "We're certainly not improving like South Carolina, which is kind of surprising to me." He adds that much of North Carolina's struggles stem from the loss of 9,800 government jobs last year--the largest reduction in any sector. "Government is generally thought of as a stabilizing factor in recessions. You don't necessarily add to the rolls, but you don't think of the rolls as shrinking." Last year's unemployment rate may improve after the N.C. Division of Employment Security revises its figures this month. "But it's not going to be growing at a robust pace. It's not going to be growing as fast as the nation. I don't think. That's not real good news."

County unemployment benefits per capita 2011 MOST 1. HERTFORD 2. DARE 3. RAHAM 4. 5. EDGECOMBE WASHINGRON (Population (population (population (population (population 24,669) 33,920) 8,861) 13,228) 56,552) $907.42 $575.87 $501.81 $ 477.23 $473.79 NORTH CAROLINA (population 9,535,483) $391.25 LEAST 96. WATAUGA 97. ONSLOW 98. POLK 99. ORANGE 100. GATES (population (population (population (population (population 51,079) 177,772) 20,510) 133,801) 12,197) $ 215.20 $ 209.49 $ 197.32 $ 194.66 $ 186.00 Fayetteville 0.8% Wilmington 0.7% Durham 0.6% Winston-Salem (0.2)% Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton (0.2)% Greensboro-High Point (0.1)% 1. Alamance 0.2 2. Alexander 1.0 3. Alleghany 0.2 4. Anson 0.5 5. Ashe 0.1 6. Avery 1.2 7. Beaufort 0.4 8. Bertie 0.2 9. Bladen 0.7 10. Brunswick 0.6 11. Buncombe 0.1 12. Burke 0.2 13. Cabarrus 0.3 14...