By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 26, 2013
OUTER BANKS
For the second straight year, Dare County’s January jobless rate hit 20 percent despite signs of an improving economy.
Before 2012, Dare County unemployment was previously that high in January 1993, according to statistics from the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. During the boom of a few years ago, January rates were under 10 percent.
Jobs are typically harder to find during the cold months after Christmas and before the spring brings more visitors to the Outer Banks. In past years, construction work has picked up in winter months and helped ease off-season unemployment. Activity is up in tourism and construction, but it is not translating into jobs.
“It’s a mixed bag,” said Lee Nettles, executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. “They are saying we’re recovering, but it doesn’t feel like that to people.”
The gross occupancy receipts for lodging in Dare County reached an all-time high of $385.2 million
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