The wind is back in our sales.

• Position: Statewide

Though North Carolina's unemployment rate flirted with double digits in August, the most recent month available, another metric indicates that the state's economy is on the uptick. After a two-year decline, taxable retail sales in North Carolina have nearly rebounded to their pre-recession levels, crossing the $100 billion mark last fiscal year for the first time since 2007-08. "Folks that have remained employed are feeling more certain about their jobs," says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co. in Charlotte. "They're committing to major purchases that they postponed when times were Jess certain," such as cars or household appliances.

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Taxable retail sales BY YEAR (billions) 2006-07 2007-09 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 106.6 107.9 99.7 94.6 96.8 102.8 BY REGION Total Change from fiscal 2009-10 WEST $9.7 billion 8.7% CHARLOTTE 26.3 billion 12.4 TRIAD 15.2 billion 11.7 TRIANGLE 21.3 billion 9.5 EAST 23.4 billion 11.9 PER CAPITA HIGHEST LOWEST Dare $33,888 Gates $2,046 Durham 16,283 Caswell 2,459 Currituck 15,935 Greene 2,667 Mecklenburg 15,790 Hoke 2,807 New Hanover 15,278 Northampton 3,028 Buncombe 13,567 Bertie 3,065 Carteret 12,815 Perquimans 3,132 Cabarrus 12,699 Jones 3,159 Watauga 12,084 Stokes 3,271 Wake 11,719 Warren 3,279 Forsyth 11,609 Madison 3,540 Guilford 11,387 Alexander 4,032 COUNTY INDEX

1. Alamance

2. Alexander

3. Alleghany

4. Anson

5. Ashe

6. Avery

7. Beaufort

8. Bertie

9. Bladen

10. Brunswick

11. Buncombe

12. Burke

13. Cabarrus

14. Caldwell

15. Camden

16. Carteret

17. Caswell

18. Catawba

19. Chatham

20. Cherokee

21. Chowan

22. Clay

23. Cleveland

24. Columbus

25. Craven

26. Cumberland

27. Currituck

28. Dare

29. Davidson

30. Davie

31. Duplin

32. Durham

33. Edgecombe

34. Forsyth

35. Franklin

36. Gaston

37. Gates

38. Graham

39. Granville

40. Greene

41. Guilford

42. Halifax

43. Harnett

44. Haywood

45. Henderson

46. Hertford

47. Hoke

48. Hyde

49. Iredell

50. Jackson

51. Johnston

52. Jones

53. Lee

54. Lenoir

55. Lincoln

56. Macon

57. Madison

58. Martin

59. McDowell

60. Mecklenburg

61. Mitchell

62. Montgomery

63. Moore

64. Nash

65. New Hanover

66. Northampton

67. Onslow

68. Orange

69. Pamlico

70. Pasquotank

71. Pender

72. Perquimans

73. Person

74. Pitt

75. Polk

76. Randolph

77. Richmond

78. Robeson

79. Rockingham

80. Rowan

81. Rutherford

82. Sampson

83. Scotland

84. Stanly

85. Stokes

86. Surry

87. Swain

88. Transylvania

89. Tyrrell

90. Union

91. Vance

92. Wake

93. Warren

94. Washington

95. Watauga

96. Wayne

97. Wilkes

98. Wilson

99. Yadkin

100. Yancey