NC unemployment rate drops .1 percent in February 2013, Labor Force Participation rate drops .2, Participation rate drops 1.7 percent since Obama took office, Charlotte Observer omits data

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“Guilford (Large NC County) appears on it’s way to a third consecutive year with annual jobless rates in double digits. Economists say that likely hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.”…Greensboro News Record December 2, 2011

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

As you may recall, the NC unemployment data for January was released about a week ago. On March 28, 2013 the unemployment figures for February 2013 were released by the NC Department of Commerce.

The NC report as well as media reports from NC fail to mention the drop in the Labor Force Participation Rate. That failure will not be carried over here.

From the Charlotte Observer March 28, 2013.

“NC jobless rate falls slightly to 9.4 percent”

“The state’s unemployment rate edged downward in February but remains just marginally better than it was a year ago.

“It was yet another month that didn’t really alter the status quo very much,” said John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, a Chapel Hill firm specializing in economic and social policy. “It’s very similar to the numbers we’ve seen on and off at least for the past 14 or 15 months.”

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate across North Carolina fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.4 percent in February, according to data released Thursday by the state Commerce Department’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division. A year ago, the state’s jobless rate was 9.5 percent.

Quinterno noted that since the beginning of 2012 the unemployment rate has moved up and down within a narrow band – never higher than 9.6 percent or lower than 9.4 percent.

The state unemployment rate continues to lag the national rate of 7.7 percent. The number of unemployed workers in North Carolina totaled 446,840 in February.

North Carolina added 3,300 jobs in February, a gain of one-tenth of a percent.

The state lost 327,800 jobs between December 2007, the pre-recession peak, and February 2010, Quinterno said. Since then the state has added 209,500 jobs.

“We actually have closed a significant part of the gap since then,” Quinterno said. “We shouldn’t ignore that. But on the other hand, it has been so slow that it doesn’t really feel like it is getting better for a lot of folks.””