LAURINBURG — Unemployment in Scotland County fell in February keeping with a statewide trend that saw jobless rates decrease in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties for the month.

The county’s jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent in February from 9.7 percent in January, according to a report this week by the N.C. Commerce Department.

Of a workforce of 11,586, Scotland County had about 998 people looking for work in February, state officials said.

The number of workers employed statewide increased in February by 41,376 to 4,669,306, while those unemployed decreased 21,827 to 247,223.

Hyde County had the highest unemployment rate at 15.3 percent, while Buncombe County had the lowest at 3.9 percent.

The unemployment rate for surrounding counties for February were: Robeson, 7.4 percent; Richmond 7.0 percent; Hoke, 6.3 percent and Moore at 5 percent.

All fifteen of the state’s metro areas experienced rate decreases. Among the metro areas, Rocky Mount at 7.2 percent had the highest rate and Asheville had the lowest rate at 4.1 percent.

Last week, the Commerce Department reported that North Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.3 percent to 5.1 percent in February, slightly above the national rate of 4.7 percent.

Economists advise against reading too far into one month of data. Instead, they point to year-over-year trends. In February 2016, Scotland County’s unemployment rate stood at 10.4 percent.

The next unemployment update is scheduled for April 21 when the state unemployment rate for March 2017 will be released.

Scott Witten

[email protected]

Reach Scott Witten at 910-506-3023