The overall national unemployment rate moved up slightly to 7.9 percent in October. While that is not the direction that we were looking for in terms of overall employment trends, economists were a bit more optimistic on the new jobs data, with 171,000 new jobs being created in October.

The economy will not return to full employment with those kinds of monthly numbers, but it is certainly a move in the right direction. The markets had an initial positive response to the data, but as the day progressed, the markets moved into negative territory. Mortgage Rates were relatively flat today.

With the election on Tuesday, it’s likely that we don’t see much in terms of market movement until the outcome results are delivered.

Here in North Carolina, the employment picture for September was released today from the Employment Security Commission. Here are a few data points from their report.

September Triangle unemployment rates by county:

• Chatham – 6.7% - down from 7.1% in August
• Durham – 7.4% - down from 8.0% in August
• Johnston – 7.9% - down from 8.4% in August
• Orange – 5.7% - down from 6.5% in August
• Wake – 7.0% - down from 7.7% in August

The overall trend is moving in the right direction for the Triangle. Unemployment rates are a key component for the continued healing of the Triangle’s housing market.

Have a great weekend and make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday if you haven’t done so already!!