Data / Covered employment (QCEW) / North Carolina

Covered employment (QCEW) in North Carolina

Covered employment (QCEW) in North Carolina was 4,941,383 jobs in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is up 0.8% from 2024. That is the 8th highest of 51 states in 2025.

2025, jobs4,941,383
Change on 2024+0.8%
Rank8th of 51US states ranked
Series high4,941,3832025
Series low3,719,4442003

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Covered employment (QCEW) in North Carolina, 2001 to 2025

3.5M3.75M4M4.25M4.5M4.75M5M20012005200920132017202120252001: 3,805,498 jobs2002: 3,751,648 jobs2003: 3,719,444 jobs2004: 3,777,872 jobs2005: 3,856,748 jobs2006: 3,965,479 jobs2007: 4,062,955 jobs2008: 4,043,486 jobs2009: 3,823,299 jobs2010: 3,788,581 jobs2011: 3,838,300 jobs2012: 3,907,085 jobs2013: 3,974,937 jobs2014: 4,057,439 jobs2015: 4,161,654 jobs2016: 4,259,276 jobs2017: 4,330,606 jobs2018: 4,410,791 jobs2019: 4,498,572 jobs2020: 4,323,325 jobs2021: 4,509,160 jobs2022: 4,699,554 jobs2023: 4,830,118 jobs2024: 4,901,211 jobs2025: 4,941,383 jobs3.5M4M4.5M5M2001201020252001: 3,805,498 jobs2002: 3,751,648 jobs2003: 3,719,444 jobs2004: 3,777,872 jobs2005: 3,856,748 jobs2006: 3,965,479 jobs2007: 4,062,955 jobs2008: 4,043,486 jobs2009: 3,823,299 jobs2010: 3,788,581 jobs2011: 3,838,300 jobs2012: 3,907,085 jobs2013: 3,974,937 jobs2014: 4,057,439 jobs2015: 4,161,654 jobs2016: 4,259,276 jobs2017: 4,330,606 jobs2018: 4,410,791 jobs2019: 4,498,572 jobs2020: 4,323,325 jobs2021: 4,509,160 jobs2022: 4,699,554 jobs2023: 4,830,118 jobs2024: 4,901,211 jobs2025: 4,941,383 jobs
jobs. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-08-21.
All 25 values
Periodjobs
20254,941,383
20244,901,211
20234,830,118
20224,699,554
20214,509,160
20204,323,325
20194,498,572
20184,410,791
20174,330,606
20164,259,276
20154,161,654
20144,057,439
20133,974,937
20123,907,085
20113,838,300
20103,788,581
20093,823,299
20084,043,486
20074,062,955
20063,965,479
20053,856,748
20043,777,872
20033,719,444
20023,751,648
20013,805,498

Compared with United States

Place2025
North Carolina4,941,383
United States155,732,363

North Carolina compared with nearby places

Alabama: 2,118,878 jobsAlaska: 332,544 jobsArizona: 3,234,783 jobsArkansas: 1,305,532 jobsCalifornia: 18,210,243 jobsColorado: 2,891,626 jobsConnecticut: 1,691,734 jobsDelaware: 481,552 jobsDistrict of Columbia: 741,646 jobsFlorida: 9,914,411 jobsGeorgia: 4,890,150 jobsHawaii: 644,391 jobsIdaho: 874,283 jobsIllinois: 6,067,518 jobsIndiana: 3,190,325 jobsIowa: 1,558,465 jobsKansas: 1,432,626 jobsKentucky: 1,990,460 jobsLouisiana: 1,928,041 jobsMaine: 651,181 jobsMaryland: 2,754,961 jobsMassachusetts: 3,634,042 jobsMichigan: 4,408,446 jobsMinnesota: 2,944,260 jobsMississippi: 1,173,251 jobsMissouri: 2,898,452 jobsMontana: 512,424 jobsNebraska: 1,021,306 jobsNevada: 1,569,260 jobsNew Hampshire: 689,026 jobsNew Jersey: 4,282,851 jobsNew Mexico: 875,212 jobsNew York: 9,791,529 jobsNorth Carolina: 4,941,383 jobsNorth Dakota: 429,567 jobsOhio: 5,534,587 jobsOklahoma: 1,700,650 jobsOregon: 1,987,730 jobsPennsylvania: 6,053,191 jobsRhode Island: 499,321 jobsSouth Carolina: 2,320,850 jobsSouth Dakota: 460,392 jobsTennessee: 3,265,460 jobsTexas: 14,109,957 jobsUtah: 1,741,066 jobsVermont: 308,225 jobsVirginia: 4,149,424 jobsWashington: 3,601,662 jobsWest Virginia: 695,422 jobsWisconsin: 2,945,816 jobsWyoming: 282,252 jobs
  • Under 600K
  • 600K to 1.3M
  • 1.3M to 2M
  • 2M to 3M
  • 3M to 4.7M
  • 4.7M and over
Covered employment (QCEW), 2025, jobs. North Carolina is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Rankings

Definition

Average number of jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Counted where the job is located, from the reports employers file each quarter; monthly employment counts the jobs in the pay period that includes the 12th.

Counts jobs, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. Covers about 95 percent of US wage and salary jobs. Excludes the self-employed, most agricultural workers on small farms, the armed forces, elected officials in most states, most railroad employees, some domestic workers and most student workers at schools. A count of employer reports, not a survey estimate like oews_employment.

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How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Covered employment (QCEW), North Carolina, 2001 to 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Covered employment (QCEW), North Carolina, 2001 to 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/north-carolina. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Covered employment (QCEW), North Carolina, 2001 to 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/north-carolina.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Covered employment (QCEW), North Carolina, 2001 to 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/north-carolina (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_covered_employment_qcew_north_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Covered employment (QCEW), North Carolina, 2001 to 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/north-carolina. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Covered employment (QCEW), North Carolina, 2001 to 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/north-carolina
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/north-carolina.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the covered employment (QCEW) in North Carolina?

Covered employment (QCEW) in North Carolina was 4,941,383 jobs in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is up 0.8% from 2024. That is the 8th highest of 51 states in 2025.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest covered employment (QCEW) in North Carolina?

4,941,383 jobs in 2025, the highest value since 2001 in this series.

Covered employment (QCEW) elsewhere in United States

Related statistics for North Carolina

All statistics for North Carolina | North Carolina in figures