Department of Numbers

New Bern, North Carolina Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Bern fell 0.1 percentage points in September 2023 to 3.3%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.1 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. You can also compare New Bern unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate September 2023 Month/Month Year/Year
National 3.8% 0.0 +0.3
North Carolina 3.4% +0.1 -0.5
New Bern 3.3% -0.1 -0.5
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with September 2023 data as October 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 4,153 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.

Unemployed Persons September 2023 Month/Month Year/Year
New Bern 1,748 -6 -201

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
October
2023
3.9% 3.4%
September
2023
3.8% 3.4% 3.3% 1,748
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
December
2022
3.5% 3.8% 3.7% 1,939
November
2022
3.6% 3.9% 3.8% 1,944

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.