Looking for work: A ray of hope? The only economic-development region that saw employment increase is in the poorest part of the state.

• Author: Maley, Frank
• Position: Regions

Which regional economic-development partnership was the only one that saw its unemployment rate drop between October 2001 and October 2002? If you're thinking the Research Triangle, unofficial hub of the state's high-tech economy and rich in recession-resistant government jobs, think again. Or perhaps Charlotte, home of banking behemoths and headquarters of eight Fortune 500 companies? Sorry.

The Northeast--which has the state's lowest per capita income, just under $22,000 a year--saw its jobless rate fall from 6% to 5.5%. Only the Triangle region had a lower rate, even though it climbed a full percentage point, from 4.3% to 5.3%.

Tourism helped keep unemployment low in the Northeast's coastal counties. And the region is still reaping benefits from construction of a Nucor steel mill in Hertford County in 2000, according to Rick Watson, president of the Northeast Partnership, which helps lure jobs to the area. The mill has drawn Nucor suppliers and the jobs they bring. The Northeast also was the only region where employment grew from October to October.

The rest of the state's seven regional partnerships are suffering more than the Northeast or the Triangle from a sluggish economy. The Southeast had the highest unemployment rate in October--7%--just as it did the previous October. It was hit hard in June when Abbott Laboratories closed a plant in Scotland County that employed about 900. As of mid-November, that was the largest round of layoffs reported to the state's Employment Security Commission in 2002.

Companies statewide had reported nearly 37,000 layoffs. Employment shrank by 1% statewide in 2001 and also fell 1% from October 2001 to October 2002. By then, the unemployment rate was 6.4% in the Eastern Region...