RALEIGH — North Carolina added 65,600 nonfarm payroll jobs over the year through August as the state unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to federal data released Friday.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 5,128,400 payroll jobs in North Carolina in August, up 1.3% from 5,062,800 a year earlier. The gain was the third largest among states in absolute terms, behind Texas and California.
North Carolina was one of eight states with a statistically significant year-over-year increase in payroll employment. The bureau said payroll employment was essentially unchanged over the month in 46 states and the District of Columbia, including North Carolina; only four states recorded statistically significant monthly gains.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down from 3.9% in August 2025 and below the national rate of 4.1%. North Carolina was among 19 states with rates significantly below the U.S. figure.
The unemployment and payroll figures come from different surveys. The unemployment rate is modeled largely from household data and counts people by where they live. Payroll estimates come from an employer survey and count jobs by place of work, so a person holding more than one job can appear more than once.
The August figures extend an improvement from July, when North Carolina’s unemployment rate was 3.6% and payroll employment was 51,600 above the prior-year level, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce.
BLS classifies the August figures as preliminary. The estimates are subject to monthly and annual revisions.