Unemployment rate drops, but fewer N.C. residents are working than a year ago

North Carolina's unemployment rate fell to an even 8 percent in October, which makes for a positive headline.

But there's a gloomier underside.

Total employment, according to "smoothed seasonally adjusted" numbers, was down from a year earlier, when the unemployment rate was 9.4 percent.

How could that be? Our labor force keeps shrinking. It's smaller by 77,429, the N.C. Department of Commerce reports.

That means fewer people are looking for work. They're retired, back in school, on disability, or just discouraged by the still-sluggish economy.

Employment rose by 6,225 from September to October, which is hopeful, but year-to-year comparisons are generally more helpful indicators of our direction. By that measure, it still isn't positive. We need more people earning paychecks, not fewer.

Addendum: "The state’s labor force participation rate — a key measure of labor utilization — fell steadily over that time to the lowest monthly figure recorded at any point since 1976," John Quinterno says.