by Leah Justice
leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Polk County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in the month of November and moved Polk to tie with Henderson County as the fourth lowest unemployed county in the state, according to N.C. Department of Commerce figures released in December.

Polk was one of 72 counties in North Carolina whose unemployment rate decreased in November 2014 compared to October rates.

Polk County’s November rate dropped 0.2 percent from October. Polk’s unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in November, compared to 4.2 percent in October and 4.8 percent in November 2013, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce.

Polk County was ranked the fifth lowest unemployment rate in the state in October 2014.  Polk County recorded the second lowest rate in the state in April 2014 with the same rate as it had in October at 4.2 percent. Polk moved to third in the state in May and June 2014 with an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent in May and 4.7 percent in June.

Polk’s labor force in November was 9,160 with 366 persons unemployed.

Rutherford County recorded a 7.0 percent unemployment rate in November, compared to its October rate of 7.2 percent.

Henderson County had an unemployment rate the same as Polk County of 4.0 percent in November 2014, which was slightly lower than its October rate of 4.1 percent, according to the department of commerce.

Chatham County recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the state in November at 3.7 percent with Buncombe County the second lowest with an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent and Orange County ranked third at 3.9 percent.

Graham County had the highest unemployment rate in the state for November at 11.4 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in November was 5.3 percent, which was 0.2 percent lower than its October 2014 rate of 5.5 percent.