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Latest Previous Previous % change from month month year last year EMPLOYMENT Employed (000s) 4,141.8 4,124.0 4,037.0 2.6 Civilian labor force 4,357.0 4,350.3 4,264.2 2.2 Manufacturing 568.8 570.3 581.8 (2.2) Service 3,132.0 3,132.7 3,073.1 1.9 Government 681.9 682.0 668.9 1.9 Unemployed 215.2 226.3 227.2 (5.3) Avg. manufacturing workweek 40.6 41.3 40.7 (0.2) (hours) Avg. hourly production wage $14.23 $14.32 $14.38 (1.0) Source: Employment Security Commission, December. County rates are not seasonally adjusted. Latest Previous Previous month month year* TAXABLE RETAIL SALES (1) ($000s) Asheville 176,207.8 191,599.2 247,020.3 Cary 80,705.8 96,422.6 162,905.5 Charlotte 722,103.9 876,227.3 1,136,723.0 Durham 227,558.7 264,340.4 368,557.7 Fayetteville 140,924.8 164,614.0 230,417.7 Greensboro 321,905.7 359,680.9 542,838.2 Greenville 80,748.3 94,716.7 136,559.6 Hickory 88,312.9 104,186.5 150,436.3 High Point 66,357.2 72,435.3 143,421.5 Raleigh 428,015.2 509,361.8 683,275.6 Wilmington 171,888.8 207,157.7 234,659.9 Winston-Salem 243,043.4 242,447.4 379,057.2 *includes nontaxable sales. % change Latest Previous Previous from last month month year year AIR PASSENGER BOARDINGS (2) Asheville 22,525 25,461 23,338 (3.5) Charlotte* 1,100,124 1,108,976 1,076,147 2.2 Fayetteville 12,703 12,244 14,676 (13.4) Greensboro 97,548 100,332 115,779 (15.7) Greenville 3,490 4,113 4,833 (27.8) Hickory** 480 1,476 0 nm Jacksonville 7,283 7,068 7,077 2.9 Kinston** 2,233 2,714 86 2,496.5 New Bern 7,994 7,520 8,751 (8.7) Raleigh/Durham 385,376 391,919 388,621 (0.8) Wilmington 25,194 26,934 25,933 (2.8) ELECTRIC UTILITIES (3) Dominion Residential customers 98,905 98,743 97,527 1.4 Commercial/industrial 17,789 17,787 17,671 0.7 customers Usage (millions of 333.0 287.0 344.0 (3.2) kilowatt-hours) Duke Power Residential customers 1,429,463 1,425,262 1,401,031 2.0 Commercial/industrial...