North Carolina experienced a drop in unemployment rate for September, according to a release by the Employment Security Commission.
Unemployment fell from 9.7 to 9.6 percent putting it on par with the national average.
“It has been pretty static with job growth, but we have not seen the job loss that we saw in 2009,” said Larry Parker, the acting public information director for the commission.
But the drop is not necessarily a good thing said Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University.
“The drop in the unemployment rate was due to the fact that the number of people classified as unemployed dropped, not new jobs,” Walden said.
The unemployment rate can drop in two ways. There can be more people put into new jobs. The number of the unemployed could also stop searching for work, and therefore be listed as a discouraged worker and not be put into the unemployment rate for the state.
“It is hard to tell the number of discourage workers that are out there,” Parker said.
The unemployment rate struggles to take into account discouraged workers and people seeking to move from part-time to full-time positions.
“The economy has been slow, and may see the unemployment rate drop for the next couple of months because of the people stop looking for work,” Walden said.
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Several students are adjusting to the budgetary stress from the current economic state.
“Recently, my parents took a pay cut and now I am the one paying my way through school,” said Vinny Tagliatela, a junior business major said.
Others are looking to create more options when they start job-hunting after graduation.
“I have had to think about how, in this economy, there are not many art jobs available, so I am sort of worried about getting a job,” Stephanie Linas, a junior dramatic arts and journalism major said. Linas decided to switch to a double major to give herself more options.
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