From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE — Buncombe County’s unemployment rate continued to jump in early 2025, “marking the start of a ‘choppy’ period of economic recovery after Tropical Storm Helene decimated the region and caused unemployment to spike in the fall, regional experts say,” a March 24 report in the Asheville Citizen Times stated.

“Data from the North Carolina Department of Commerce indicated Buncombe County’s unemployment rate rose by 0.8 percentage points between December and January, bringing the county’s rate up to 6.8 percent, which is a 13 percent month-over-month increase, making it the fourth highest rate in the state,” the ACT noted. “Over 9,800 people remain unemployed in Buncombe County.”

The newspaper added, “The statewide unemployment rate rose from 3.4 percent to 4 percent between December and January, though the year-over-year rate change only saw a 0.3 percentage point increase from 3.7 percent to 4 percent.

“Most counties in Western North Carolina outpaced the state’s rate increase, with Mitchell County unemployment rising 0.8 percentage points in January to 7.3 percent. In Henderson County, unemployment rose 0..6 percentage points to 4.0 percent. Around 2,300” people in Henderson County remain unemployed.

When Helene wreacked havoc on many of the region’s businesses and public infrastructure in September, Buncombe’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to more than 10.4 percent — the highest in the state at the time. Before the storm, Buncombe’s unemployment rate was — as per its tradition — the lowest in the state.

“As businesses work to reopen in Asheville’s commercial corridors, re-establishing some higher-paying jobs in the hospitality and food and beverage industries may be more difficult, said Nathan Ramsey, executive director of the Land and Sky Regional Council, an economic and community development organization,” the ACT reported. 

The ACT added, “Ramsey compared the region’s economic recovery as similar to efforts from the Federal Reserve to reduce inflation, where reducing unemployment to pre-Helene rates is going to take ‘years’ as jobs with specific experience requirements will take longer to return.

“Some workers may leave during that time.”

As for the opportunity for some higher-paying jobs in the service industry, Ramsey was quoted by the ACT as saying, “They will have to take a pretty good pay cut or they’re gonna move. They’re gonna go someplace else that isn’t dealing with all the things that we are in the Asheville metro.”

The ACT added, “The return of jobs in the hospitality industry have been slower than other industries in Asheville. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the number of workers employed in the hospitality industry in Asheville was down by 14.6 percent in October compared to the same month in 2023. By January, the number of those employed in the industry — roughly 24,000 — was down by 7 percent compared to the same month in 2024, according to the Bureau’s preliminary estimates.

“The higher rate of unemployment comes amid high housing costs and a rising cost of living,” the ACT noted.