Nctrend.

Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year EMPLOYMENT Employed (000s) 4,030.0 4,024.5 4,037.2 (0.2) Civilian labor force 4,465.3 4,464.1 4,557.3 (2.0) Manufacturing 430.2 430.0 427.8 0.6 Service 3,236.5 3,208.7 3,199.9 1.1 Government 706.9 701.2 714.1 (1.0) Unemployed 435.3 439.6 520.0 (16.3) Avg. manufacturing workweek 40.9 40.6 40.2 1.7 (hours) Avg. hourly production wage $15.80 $15.81 $16.01 (1.3) Source: Employment Security Commission, January. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Latest month Previous Previous year % change month from last year TAXABLE RETAIL SALES (1) ($000s) Alamance 153,344.3 134,587.3 136,980.6 11.9 Buncombe 313,903.3 258,548.4 276,299.9 13.6 Cabarrus 225,568.1 170,882.3 204,932.9 10.1 Catawba 189,047.9 144,475.7 176,440.5 7.1 Cumberland 339,487.2 276,201.1 313,156.6 8.4 Durham 416,150.2 339,403.4 363,711.8 14.4 Forsyth 414,885.0 330,858.5 363,496.0 14.1 Gaston 156,908.6 121,519.4 143,588.0 9.3 Guilford 535,475.3 423,993.1 473,673.3 13.0 Iredell 160,744.5 126,945.8 139,758.7 15.0 Mecklenburg 1,415,701.6 1,099,553.6 1,273,429.3 11.2 New Hanover 280,396.4 229,123.9 234,910.1 19.4 Onslow 143,236.4 133,784.3 138,545.4 3.4 Pitt 173,979.2 146,306.0 158,361.3 9.9 Wake 1,078,394.1 848,897.8 974,525.3 10.7 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year CONSTRUCTION (2) Top 10 counties ($000s) Davidson 65,492.5 157.5 374.8 17,375.0 Wake 25,973.9 28,224.3 28,094.8 (7.5) Mecklenburg 12,741.2 191,903.4 35,230.9 (63.8) Cumberland 11,404.5 17,564.4 10,770.8 5.9 Guilford 11,311.0 20,575.1 21,101.8 (46.4) Greene 10,730.5 0.0 0.0 nm Alamance 9,743.2 4,052.7 1,886.9 416.4 Jackson 6,921.0 1,069.2 11,518.7 (39.9) Cleveland 6,704.0 3,279.6 9,313.5 (28.0) Buncombe 6,608.7 476.5 24,095.8 (72.6) North Carolina 243,283.5 650,914.1 353,167.5 (31.1) AIR PASSENGER BOARDINGS (3) Asheville 18,705 20,743 18,197 2.8 Charlotte * 1,412,548 1,454,259...