Scotland County has the highest unemployment rate in North Carolina.
Despite a declining rate, Scotland County again tops the state for unemployment as 84 counties saw a decrease.
The rate decrease also came despite a decline in overall jobs in the county. Employment dropped in March by 78 to 12,101 while there were 70 fewer people were looking for jobs in March as there were in February, the figures show.
Burnest Graham, director of the Scotland County Employment Security Commission, is cautiously optimistic about employment in the coming months.
"We still hold the dubious honor of being the highest in the state," Graham said. "We are getting more and more jobs in, slowly but shortly. We just ad the announcement about the new company coming into town. We remain resilient and hopeful."
Graham said that people drop out of the labor force all the time, whether they retire, go back to school or just didn't like their job. He also said the figure is just an estimate to give a ballpark idea of where the county is with employment.
Graham hopes that the county unemployment rate will continue to drop in coming months, but added that "There is no telling what will happen between now and then."
Graham had some advice for those looking for work.
"Continue to look for work and look harder," Graham said. "Even though jobs are scarce, people are hiring everyday."
"People really want to go to work," Graham said. "I think that really says a lot"
He said it tells employers that we have an active labor force, which could convince them to move here.
Neighboring counties saw a sharper decline in unemployment than Scotland. Hoke's rate decrease by 0.6 to 8.4, Moore's rate decreased by 0.8 to 10.2, Richmond's rate decrease by 0.6 to 14.4 and Robeson's rate decreased by 0.8 to 11.6 percent.
Total employment, not-seasonally adjusted, decreased in March by 12,350 workers, according to the ESC.
"While many of our counties are experiencing a slight decrease in unemployment, our state still faces significant chal
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