Unemployment across North Carolina rose January. The state Department of Commerce says the jobless rate increased .1% to 5.3%. That's the same rate as January 2016. For January, national unemployment was at 4.8%. Despite a drop in non-farm jobs month-to-month, the numbers show in 12 months the state added more than 79,000 nonfarm jobs. The 1.8% increase outpaced national job growth in that time.