The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released its Regional Economic Snapshot this week providing an update on the Fifth District economy, including timely analysis of labor market, housing, and other conditions at the state and metro area level.

While roughly 900 people left the labor force in March, the unemployment rate in North Carolina remained unchanged at 3.7 percent. Payroll employment increased by net 8,300 jobs in March with professional and business services leading the way, followed by government and education and health services. Financial services saw a slight decline in employment.

In the last year, North Carolina has added 64,400 jobs, an increase of 1.3 percent, just a tenth of a percent more than the country as a whole, which sits at 1.2 percent. Labor force participation is slightly down, which emphasizes the continued need to remove barriers to entering the state’s workforce through policy innovations and solutions. NC Leads continues to champion efforts to increase labor force participation.

Measuring against our neighbors to the north and south, South Carolina created 55,400 jobs for a 2.4 percent increase in the past year and Virginia added 48,300 jobs over the year, or 1.1 percent. South Carolina’s unemployment rate sits at 4.1 percent and Virginia’s is 3.2 percent.

As the state affiliate for the National Association of Manufacturers and convener of the NC Manufacturing Council, the NC Chamber takes particular interest in the reported loss of 8,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year, which outpaces the nation’s .6 percent loss by 1.1 percent.

The NC Chamber Foundation’s recent research around housing indicates the importance of permitting in addressing the significant housing inventory gap across all income levels and geographic areas in the state. The Fed reports that North Carolina issued 11.8 percent more residential permits in February 2025 than in January 2025, which is encouraging. However, residential permitting decreased by 4.1 percent in February 2025 compared to February 2024. This will continue to be an area of focus for the NC Chamber as it considers regulatory reforms to expedite this process.

Click here to review the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s full report on North Carolina.