North Carolina employers add 36,000 jobs in 12 months ending February 2026

9 articles · Updated · JoCo Report · Apr 27

This 0.7% job growth is far below the state’s typical annual gain of 80,000 to 90,000 positions.
Goods-producing industries saw flat employment, while service sector growth lagged pre-pandemic levels. Despite weak job creation, North Carolina’s unemployment rate remains low at 3.8%, with broader underemployment at 6.4%.
Analysts attribute the sluggish job growth to post-COVID workforce shifts, AI adoption, stricter immigration policies, and tariff uncertainty, even as the state’s GDP grew 2.6% in 2025, outpacing the national average.

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