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Latest WNC Numbers

..WNC Economic Index
..up 1.0% in Dec

..WNC Employment
..down 0.37% in Dec

..WNC Unemployment Rate
..unchg at 12.2% in Dec

..Asheville Unemployment Rate
..up 0.3 pts to 9.5% in Dec

..Hickory Unemployment Rate
..up 0.3 pts to 15.2% in Dec

..Rural WNC Unemployment Rate
..down 0.2 pts to 12.5% in Dec

..WNC Initial Claims
..up 14.2% in Dec

.....data is seasonally adjusted

Western North Carolina Economic Index

 

Report for December 2009

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Western North Carolina economic activity, as measured by the Western North Carolina Economic Index, increased 1.0 percent in December 2009—the third consecutive monthly gain. The index, which tracks the level of economic activity in 25 western North Carolina counties, increased at an annual rate of 6.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. The national economy grew at a 5.7 percent rate during the same period.

Seasonally adjusted employment for WNC continued to fall in December, decreasing 0.37 percent. Statewide adjusted employment fell 0.7 percent in December. The region lost nearly 4,700 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2009.