A monthly snapshot of North Carolina's economy.

• Position: NC TREND: Vital signs - Brief article - Statistical table

EMPLOYMENT

January 2015 January 2016 EMPLOYED 4.44m 4.53m [up arrow] 1.97% CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE 4.71m 4.8m [up arrow] 1.83% UNEMPLOYED 268,400 267,000 [up arrow] -0.53% COUNTRY UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGHEST Hyde 15.5% Graham 14.1 Dare 13.2 Tyrrell 13.1 Scotland 10.6 Swain 10.6 LOWEST Buncombe 4.5% Wake 4.6 Orange 4.7 Union 4.8 Chatham 4.9 Yadkin 4.9 Note: Table made from bar graph. TAXABLE RETAIL SALES (THOUSAND) Jan 16 Dec 15 Jan 15 Mecklenburg $2,005.1 $1,590.2 $1,681.4 Wake 1,445.0 1,140.8 1,290.0 Guilford 644.6 543.2 720.8 Durham 641.1 523.8 597.8 Forsyth 506.1 398.2 458.1 Buncombe 461.3 394.5 446.5 Cumberland 378.5 304.5 362.6 New Hanover 366.1 305.3 353.5 Cabarrus 323.1 255.6 290.3...