Buncombe County’s labor market is continuing to improve after taking a hard hit from Hurricane Helene.
About 5,300 people in Buncombe County were unemployed in September, for a jobless rate of 3.7%. That’s down from 4.2% the previous month, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
It’s the first time since Helene that Buncombe’s unemployment rate is on par with the statewide average. The county soared from the lowest to the highest unemployment rate in the state immediately after Hurricane Helene struck in late September 2024. It’s now roughly in the middle of the pack compared with the other 99 counties in the states…