Stanly County’s unemployment rate increased from May to June, according to the latest figures released Wednesday by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Stanly’s rate has hovered around 3% the last several months. In June it was 3.2%, the same as in March. It decreased to 2.8% in April before rising to 3.1% for May.

Stanly improved to the 15th lowest county for unemployment in the state. It is a decrease from one year ago when the rate was 3.6%.

There are 30,352 recorded in the county’s workforce and 1,018 among the unemployed.

The highest unemployment rate in the county since 2020 was in April of that year, when it jumped from 4.6% in March to 11.4% in April as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

For the state, 86 of the 100 counties saw an increase in unemployment in June 2023. Scotland County once again had the highest unemployment with a rate of 6.4%. Swain had the lowest rate at 2.7%.

All of the state’s 15 metro areas had rate increases, with Rocky Mount the highest rate at 5.2% and Asheville the lowest at 2.9%.