North Carolina unemployment rate falls to 3.5% for March

North Carolina's unemployment fell again in March, the state Commerce Department announced Friday, as the number of additional people working surged.

The seasonally adjusted rate of 3.5% compares with 3.6% in February. The rate is now at its lowest level since last May. The adjusted figures show there hasn't been a month-over-month increase since August. The U.S. rate is also now 3.5%.

The commerce agency reported that the number of people employed grew by about 15,700 in March to slightly under 5 million workers. Those unemployed compared with February fell by almost 5,000 people to about 183,100.

Based on another counting format from monthly worksite surveys, the department said seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment grew by 7,000 workers to 4.89 million. The education and health services sector and leisure and hospitality services sector had the largest numerical employment growth based on the surveys.