Local Area Unemployment Statistics · Unemployment, employment and labor force, not seasonally adjusted · Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC
What is the unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area?
The unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area was 3.0% in the month ended , against 4.0% for the United States.
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC, unemployment rate, each month
- Unemployment rate3.0%2.8% to 18.8%
- United States rate4.0%3.1% to 14.4%
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC, people, each month
- Unemployed, thousands5.04.8 to 30.5
- Employed, thousands159.1132.0 to 169.2
- Labor force, thousands164.1161.8 to 174.9
Each row is one measure of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.
Observed .
Right now
The unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area was 3.0% in September 2026, ranking 326th highest of 387 metro areas.
Over a year it is down 0.6 percentage points (ours). The rate for the United States was 4.0% in the same month. The source marks this value preliminary.
The unemployment rate in September 2026 was the lowest since April 2023.
Highest and lowestOurs
Since January 1990 the highest unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area was 18.8% in April 2020 and the lowest was 1.8% in December 1999.
PeopleOurs: change and rank
The labor force was 164.1 thousand in September 2026, down 2.5% over a year (ours), 158th highest of 387.
The number of unemployed people was 5.0 thousand in September 2026, down 18.1% over a year (ours), 187th highest of 387.
The number of employed people was 159.1 thousand in September 2026, down 1.9% over a year (ours), 158th highest of 387.
State
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC lies in North Carolina.
Understanding the labor market of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area
Where it stands today
The unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area was 3.0% in September 2026.
What do the figures for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area measure?
This page gathers the labor market figures of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes: the unemployment rate, how many people are unemployed, how many are employed and how many are in the labor force. A metro area is a city and the counties around it that are closely tied to it, for example by the trips people make to work.
Read more
The figures come from Local Area Unemployment Statistics, a model that BLS runs for each metro area every month. BLS publishes them not seasonally adjusted, so a month is set beside the same month a year before, not beside the month before it. The rate for the United States beside the area's is the household survey's, also not seasonally adjusted.
What 500metrics adds: each figure's rank among the metro areas, its change over a year, its highest and lowest value since our record begins, the last time it was higher and lower, and the last ten years of every figure as small charts.
The numbers behind the chart
What are the latest figures for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area?5 measures, each in its own newest month
| Measure | Month | Value | Change over a year | Rank | Highest | Lowest | Last higher | Last lower |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 3.0% | −0.6 pts | 326 of 387 | 18.8% in Apr 2020 | 1.8% in Dec 1999 | |||
| United States rate | 4.0% | −0.3 pts | n/a | 14.4% in Apr 2020 | 3.1% in Apr 2023 | |||
| Unemployed | 5.0 thousand | −18.1% | 187 of 387 | 30.5 thousand in Apr 2020 | 3.3 thousand in Dec 1999 | |||
| Employed | 159.1 thousand | −1.9% | 158 of 387 | 184.3 thousand in Jul 2000 | 132.0 thousand in Apr 2020 | |||
| Labor force | 164.1 thousand | −2.5% | 158 of 387 | 191.3 thousand in Feb 2001 | 161.8 thousand in Aug 2020 |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- The figures of a metro area are estimates from a model, not a count. BLS revises the latest months as more data arrive and revises the past years every March.
- The figures are not seasonally adjusted, so they rise and fall with the seasons, and the highest and lowest values on record include those swings. A month with no value from BLS is a gap in the charts, not a zero.
- A rank is among the metro areas of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the same month, highest value first, and a large area ranks high on a count of people. The metro areas of Puerto Rico are not included. Equal values share a rank.
- A metro area can cross state lines. The states listed are those in BLS's name for the area, and the figures are for the whole area, not for the part inside one state.
- The changes, the ranks, the highest and lowest values and the months a figure was last higher and lower are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Current Population Survey), labor market of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area?", https://500metrics.com/metro-areas/hickory-lenoir-morganton-nc.
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