For 22 counties in the Western North Carolina region, the average increase in job growth this past year is 1.3 percent, according to Sperling's Best Places, a demographic and data analytics company. Yancey County showed the greatest growth with an increase of 4.8 percent in its job market. Only three WNC counties showed a decrease in the job market in the last year: Graham County by 1.0 percent, Mitchell County by 0.6 percent, and Avery County by 0.2 percent.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, every industry in the Asheville area has had positive growth in jobs for the first half of 2022 except for the information sector, which maintained a steady rate.

As regional industries are showing growth, unemployment rates are decreasing. Unemployment rates dropped from 3.9 to 3.4 percent for the entire state of North Carolina from January through July 2022. Asheville specifically saw unemployment decrease within the same time period from 3.1 to 2.9 percent. Every county in WNC’s unemployment rate is lower than the national average of 6.0 percent.

Though unemployment rates are decreasing, there is still a demand for an increased workforce across all major industries in WNC.