New Bern, North Carolina Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Bern fell 0.2 percentage points in May 2020 to 10.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than the North Carolina rate. The unemployment rate in New Bern peaked in February 2010 at 11.2% and is now 0.5 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 3.5% in December 2019, the unemployment rate has now grown by 7.2 percentage points. You can also compare New Bern unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	13.3%	-1.4	+9.7
North Carolina	12.8%	-0.1	+8.8
New Bern	10.7%	-0.2	+6.4

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with May 2020 data as June metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: New Bern, North Carolina, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

New Bern, North Carolina Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in New Bern peaked in March 2010 at 5,856. There are now 676 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 1,800 in December 2019, the number of unemployed has now grown by 3,380.

Unemployed Persons	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
New Bern	5,180	-15	+2,969

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
June 2020	11.1%	7.6%	—	—
May 2020	13.3%	12.8%	10.7%	5,180
April 2020	14.7%	12.9%	10.9%	5,195
March 2020	4.4%	4.3%	4.4%	2,237
February 2020	3.5%	3.6%	3.6%	1,879
January 2020	3.6%	3.6%	3.7%	1,902
December 2019	3.5%	3.6%	3.5%	1,800
November 2019	3.5%	3.6%	3.6%	1,849
October 2019	3.6%	3.7%	3.7%	1,912
September 2019	3.5%	3.7%	3.8%	1,983
August 2019	3.7%	3.8%	4.0%	2,058
July 2019	3.7%	3.9%	4.1%	2,126