Department of Numbers

New Bern, North Carolina Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Bern fell 0.0 percentage points in November 2023 to 3.3%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than the North Carolina rate. The unemployment rate in New Bern peaked in April 2020 at 11.7% and is now 8.4 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 3.3% in September 2023, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.0 percentage points. You can also compare New Bern unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2023 Month/Month Year/Year
National 3.7% -0.1 +0.1
North Carolina 3.5% +0.1 -0.4
New Bern 3.3% 0.0 -0.5
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2023 data as December metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: New Bern, North Carolina, National

New Bern, North Carolina monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

New Bern, North Carolina Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in New Bern peaked in April 2009 at 5,901. There are now 4,148 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 1,746 in October 2023, the number of unemployed has now grown by 7.

Unemployed Persons November 2023 Month/Month Year/Year
New Bern 1,753 +7 -191

Number of Unemployed Persons

New Bern, North Carolina Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate
North Carolina
Unemployment Rate
New Bern
Unemployment Rate
New Bern
Unemployed
December
2023
3.7%
November
2023
3.7% 3.5% 3.3% 1,753
October
2023
3.8% 3.4% 3.3% 1,746
September
2023
3.8% 3.4% 3.3% 1,747
August
2023
3.8% 3.3% 3.4% 1,754
July
2023
3.5% 3.3% 3.4% 1,789
June
2023
3.6% 3.3% 3.5% 1,827
May
2023
3.7% 3.4% 3.6% 1,873
April
2023
3.4% 3.4% 3.6% 1,896
March
2023
3.5% 3.5% 3.7% 1,910
February
2023
3.6% 3.6% 3.7% 1,920
January
2023
3.4% 3.8% 3.7% 1,929

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers.