North Carolina’s unemployment rate grew from November of 2010 to last month, and the state remains nearly 1.5 percent above the national rate.
While more than 10 percent of North Carolinians are still out of work, state budget cuts are digging into key services, an issue that WHQR’s Michelle Bliss reports has made it to #5 on our 2011 news story countdown.
This summer, state lawmakers went back and forth over what to cut from North Carolina’s $19.7 billion budget.
Education took some hard hits as the state’s Pre-K program lost 20 percent of its funding and no new support was given to the Teaching Fellows program, which has since halted its application process.
Residents are also feeling the effects of deep federal cuts to services like the Low Income Energy Assistance Program that helps families heat their homes during the winter.
But, some organizations have found other ways to thrive, like the New Hanover County drug court which lost state support but received operating funds from Sheriff Ed McMahon’s budget because of the role drug addiction plays in area crime.
Tune in all this week as we air WHQR’s 2011 Top Ten Countdown of news stories across the Cape Fear region and state.
