State unemployment rate drops to 6.3 percent in October

North Carolina's unemployment rate continues to run slightly above the national average, which was 5.8 percent in October. The state unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in September and 6.8 percent in August.

Employers in the state added more than 17,000 people to their rolls last month, and the number of people listed as unemployed fell by 16,685 during the month. In total, 293,635 North Carolinians are listed as unemployed.

The state's labor force – the number of people employed plus those actively looking for work – climbed by 823 in October. to 4,646,365.

Education and health services, leisure and hospitality services and government were the industries with the biggest job gains in October. Private employers added nearly 14,000 jobs. Financial activities and information industries were the only industries to report losses.

Gov. Pat McCrory said Friday that North Carolina has now "recovered all of the jobs lost during the recession."

"We will remain focused on long-term job creation because North Carolina will continue to attract people and businesses because of the improvements we've made to the business climate and quality of life through tax reform and investments in areas such as education," McCrory said in a statement.