The Triad’s unemployment rate continued on a recent upward trend, rising to 4.3% during August related to churn in the labor force, the N.C. Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
The Triad had a month-over-month decrease of 6,588 in the labor force to 817,016, along with a 1,227 increase in those considered as unemployed to 33,502.
The unemployment rate usually is affected by workers being hired or their jobs being eliminated. Those voluntarily leaving the workforce, which means they are no longer counted as unemployed.
The Triad’s jobless rate had ranged in the mid-to-high 3% range for most of the past 12 months after nearing a three-year high of 4.6% in August 2024.
Only Watauga County of the 14 Triad and northwest N.C. counties experienced a month-over-month rate decrease.
Forsyth County’s rate rose from 4% to 4.2%, while Guilford County inched up from 4.6% to 4.7% that maintains a regional high.
Commerce has discontinued month-over-month employment data for the metro regions.
The five-county Winston-Salem metro had a net year-over-year gain of 4,200 private-sector and 1,500 government jobs.
Leading the year-over-year net gains were 2,800 jobs in private education and health services, and 1,800 in the lower-wage leisure and hospitality sector. There was a year-over-loss of 1,000 in manufacturing.
For the three-county Greensboro-High Point metro, there was a net gain of 2,400 private-sector jobs and 700 government jobs.
There was a net gain for private education and health services at 2400, along with 900 in professional and business services, and 400 in trade, transportation and utilities.
There was a year-over-year loss of 800 in manufacturing and 600 in leisure and hospitality.
Mark Vitner, chief economist with Piedmont Crescent Capital, said manufacturing “has been struggling this past year due to wide swings in inventories and uncertainty surrounding tariffs.”
“It is too soon to see the (nearly 2,000) jobs created by Toyota’s battery plant in the Triad employment numbers.
“We likely will not see them until after the benchmark revisions are published early next year, and possibly even later than that.”
Recent layoff announcements
In the Triad, there have been at least nine manufacturing plant closing announcements since the start of 2025 that are affecting a combined 1,036 job positions.
Among the largest is PVH, the third-largest private employer in Yadkin County, which is closing its Jonesville distribution center by the end of 2025 and eliminating 317 jobs.
Wells Fargo & Co. confirmed June 27 plans to eliminate 194 job positions as part of the pending closing of its West End Center in downtown Winston-Salem. Affected business units are chief operating office global operations, consumer lending, corporate risk and technology.
FedEx Corp. filed in June a WARN Act notice that it will close a Greensboro shipping center on Sept. 1, affecting 164 jobs. The facility on Old Oak Ridge Road is being shut down and production shifted to other FedEx locations.
Qorvo Inc. confirmed Aug. 8 that 175 Greensboro employees — representing about 12.5% of its local workforce — are being affected by the planned closing of its local wafer fabrication plant by early 2027.
Guerrilla RF Inc. listed in its second-quarter financial report that its workforce has declined from 71 to 47 during the quarter.
Howard Miller confirmed Aug. 20 in a WARN Act notice it will close its High Point and Lexington operations on Nov. 2, ending jobs for 42 workers.
Michael Walden, an emeritus economics professor at N.C. State University, said his index that measures state economic activity dropped during August. The index serves as a forecast of North Carolina’s economy for the next four to six months.
“While disappointing, the report is not disastrous, being nowhere near the declines prior to the Great Recession and COVID recession of recent years,” Walden said,
“Nonetheless, the index’s recent path does signal caution for both consumers and businesses with uncertainty continuing about tariffs, international conflicts, and debt — both governmental and private.
“For those facing big decisions, a wait-and-see plan may be the most reasonable.”
rcraver@wsjournal.com
336-727-7376
@rcraverWSJ
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