DURHAM -- Unemployment in the Triangle stayed the same from June to July, according to new numbers released by the state Employment Security Commission on Friday.
Durham County had an unemployment rate of 8.4 percent, unchanged from the previous month. Orange County had the fourth lowest rate in the state, at 7.1 percent, up just slightly from 7.0 percent in June. Wake County reported an 8.8 percent jobless rate, also unchanged from June.
''In general, it looks like layoffs are slowing," said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo in Charlotte. "The one thing about July is that you get a loss of jobs in education. The school year comes to an end and you see a drop in public education payrolls, so the month to month drop is almost entirely accounted for by that.''
The Raleigh-Durham-Cary combined statistical area's unemployment rate stayed the same, at 9.1 percent. The report showed 79,546 people unemployed in this area.
Statewide, unemployment rates dropped in 59 counties in July. The state's unadjusted unemployment rate was 11.1 percent for the month.
Both Currituck and Hyde counties had the state's lowest unemployment rate in July, at 5.5 percent. Scotland County had the highest unemployment rate, at 17.1 percent.
"Employment growth was modest in many of our counties in July," said Employment Security Commission Chairman Moses Carey Jr. "The coastal counties traditionally experience rate decreases due to tourism and the need for summer workers. The rest of the state has not had as much summer hiring compared to previous years, but there was enough to drop the rates in more than half of the state's 100 counties."
Vitner said indications are the recession has bottomed out.
"We think it's over," he said. "But when the recession ends, it doesn't mean that everything is back to normal. It just means things have stopped getting worse; it doesn't even mean they've started getting better. And I think that's where we are right now.''
Unemployment numbers are likely to continue to show increases, he said.
''Unemployment will probably increase from where it is right now for the next year or so, and that includes in Durham. The increases will not be anywhere near as great as what we saw over the last year, and it won't be every month, but on average they'll probably move a little higher, because what's happened now is that layoffs have slowed, but we're not adding jobs. And the labor force is continuing to grow over time, as so as we don't add as many jobs and the labor force grows, the unemployment rate will go up.''
