Trend.

Two-thirds of employers surveyed outsource human-resources tasks.

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Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year EMPLOYMENT Total employed (000s) 3,978.8 3,979.8 3,985.6 (0.2) Civilian labor force 4,199.2 4,187.8 4,250.7 (1.2) Manufacturing 577.4 579.5 590.5 (2.2) Service 3,094.4 3,099.5 3,017.4 2.6 Government 681.9 685.0 667.2 2.2 Total unemployed 220.4 208.0 265.1 (16.9) Avg. manufacturing 40.6 40.2 40.5 0.2 workweek (hours) Avg. hourly production $14.57 $14.34 $14.09 3.4 wage Source: Employment Security Commission, December. County rates are not seasonally adjusted. Latest Previous Previous % change month month year from last year RETAIL SALES (1) ($000s) Asheville 251,723.3 237,803.1 205,499.6 22.5 Cary 160,564.4 171,568.5 151,382.9 6.1 Charlotte 1,165,762.1 1,111,545.8 969,377.3 20.3 Concord 137,882.1 131,173.2 128,316.0 7.5 Durham 367,408.3 362,741.2 283,429.2 29.6 Fayetteville 236,315.6 219,676.3 186,840.3 26.5 Greensboro 540,222.5 491,480.9 446,303.2 21.0 Greenville 140,209.8 135,629.6 119,587.9 17.2 Hickory 160,508.5 145,804.9 129,718.5 23.7 High Point 151,286.6 144,242.1 123,014.7 23.0 Raleigh 660,900.0 650,036.3 578,587.3 14.2 Wilmington 232,505.4 235,002.9 223,254.7 4.1 Winston-Salem 386,202.2 362,392.7 336,100.7 14.9 % change from Latest Previous Previous last month month year year AIR PASSENGER BOARDINGS (2) Asheville 23,338 23,717 19,745 18.2 Charlotte* 1,076,147 1,001,407 1,010,121 6.5 Fayetteville 14,676 14,118 11,426 28.4 Greensboro 115,779 119,386 111,363 4.0 Greenville 4,833 5,367 3,367 43.5 Jacksonville 7,077 7,322 3,975 78.0 New Bern 8,751 8,473 6,262 39.7 Raleigh/Durham 388,621 376,917 361,631 7.5 Wilmington 25,933 25,080 20,217 28.3 ELECTRIC UTILITIES (3)...