Wilmington's jobless rate was 3.4% in August, down from 3.9% a year earlier. But the city's labor force shrank, and about 490 fewer residents had jobs.
Wilmington’s unemployment rate was 3.4% in August, down from 3.9% in August 2025. The drop came mostly from a smaller labor force, not from more people working. About 490 fewer city residents had jobs than a year earlier, and about 320 fewer were out of work.
The figures are the preliminary August estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. The BLS publishes a separate rate for the city of Wilmington as well as for New Hanover County. The figures are not seasonally adjusted, so the fair comparison is with the same month a year earlier.
Wilmington against its neighbors
| Area | August 2026 | August 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| New Hanover County | 3.3% | 3.7% |
| Pender County | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| Brunswick County | 3.9% | 4.6% |
| North Carolina | 3.6% | 4.1% |
| United States | 4.3% | 4.5% |
All rates are not seasonally adjusted. Sources: BLS series for New Hanover County, Pender County, Brunswick County, North Carolina and the United States.
Wilmington’s rate was below the state and national rates and a little above New Hanover County’s as a whole. Brunswick County, across the Cape Fear River, had the highest rate in the group at 3.9%. It also had the largest fall from a year earlier, 0.7 of a point.
The numbers behind the rate
In Wilmington in August, according to the BLS:
- 66,098 people were in the labor force, down from 66,906 a year earlier.
- 63,818 people had jobs, down from 64,307.
- 2,280 people were unemployed, down from 2,599.
New Hanover County showed the same pattern. Its labor force fell from 127,904 to 126,314. The number of residents with jobs fell from 123,115 to 122,179, and the number unemployed fell from 4,789 to 4,135.
The labor force counts people who have a job or are looking for one. The unemployment rate is the share of the labor force without a job and looking for one. People who stop looking leave the labor force, which lowers the rate without anyone finding work. These are counts of residents, wherever they work, not counts of the jobs based in Wilmington.
The past year, month by month
New Hanover County’s rate moved between 3.1% and 3.7% over the year, according to the BLS county series.
| Month | New Hanover County rate |
|---|---|
| August 2025 | 3.7% |
| September 2025 | 3.3% |
| October 2025 | Not published |
| November 2025 | 3.4% |
| December 2025 | 3.1% |
| January 2026 | 3.7% |
| February 2026 | 3.5% |
| March 2026 | 3.2% |
| April 2026 | 3.1% |
| May 2026 | 3.2% |
| June 2026 | 3.2% |
| July 2026 | 3.4% |
| August 2026 | 3.3% |
The BLS did not publish October 2025 figures because of the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations. The August 2026 figures are preliminary and may be revised next month.
What it means for you
- Looking for work: the state’s job board, NCWorks.gov, lists openings in the Wilmington area.
- Read the rate with the counts: a falling rate this year came with fewer residents working, so it is not on its own a sign that more jobs were filled.
- Next update: the BLS publishes September figures for cities and counties in early November. We will report them when they are out.
- Housing costs: our home prices page tracks what homes cost in Wilmington.
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