Winston-Salem's unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in September, from 4.1% a year earlier, the lowest in a year. The labor force shrank again. Forsyth County: 3.3%.
Winston-Salem’s unemployment rate was 3.4% in September, down from 4.1% in September 2025. It is the city’s lowest rate in the past 12 months of published figures.
About 3,970 city residents were out of work and looking for a job. A year earlier the figure was about 4,860.
Forsyth County’s rate was 3.3%, down from 3.9%.
The figures are the preliminary September estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Local Area Unemployment Statistics for Winston-Salem. They are not seasonally adjusted, so the fair comparison is with the same month a year earlier. The rate usually drops from August to September: last year it fell from 4.7% to 4.1%.
Winston-Salem against the Triad
| Area | September 2026 | September 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 3.1% | 3.7% | down 0.6 points |
| Kernersville | 3.2% | 3.4% | down 0.2 points |
| Forsyth County | 3.3% | 3.9% | down 0.6 points |
| Winston-Salem | 3.4% | 4.1% | down 0.7 points |
| Guilford County | 3.4% | 4.2% | down 0.8 points |
| Greensboro | 3.6% | 4.3% | down 0.7 points |
| High Point | 3.6% | 4.4% | down 0.8 points |
| United States | 4.0% | 4.3% | down 0.3 points |
All rates are not seasonally adjusted. Sources: BLS series for North Carolina, Kernersville, Forsyth County, Guilford County, Greensboro, High Point and the United States.
Winston-Salem’s rate was a little above the county and state rates and well below the national rate. Kernersville, about 10 miles east, was 3.2%. Greensboro, about 25 miles east, and High Point, about 17 miles southeast, were both 3.6%.
Rates fell across the Triad. Guilford County and High Point fell the most, 0.8 points each. Winston-Salem and Greensboro fell 0.7 points.
The numbers behind the rate
In Winston-Salem in September, according to the BLS:
- 115,680 people were in the labor force, down 1,588 from 117,268 a year earlier.
- 111,712 people had jobs, down 696 from 112,408.
- 3,968 people were unemployed, down 892 from 4,860.
Across Forsyth County:
- 183,230 people were in the labor force, down 2,362 from 185,592.
- 177,229 people had jobs, down 1,105 from 178,334.
- 6,001 people were unemployed, down 1,257 from 7,258.
The pattern is the same one we saw in the August figures. Fewer residents were out of work than a year earlier. But fewer had jobs, too. The rate came down mainly because the labor force got smaller, not because more residents found work.
Against August, the picture is better. The number of city residents with a job rose by 1,845, from 109,867 in August to 111,712 in September.
The labor force counts residents who have a job or are looking for one, wherever they work. It is not a count of the jobs based in the city. The BLS figures do not say why the labor force shrank: retirements, people moving away, students and people who stopped looking for work all count.
The past year, month by month
| Month | Winston-Salem | Forsyth County |
|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| October 2025 | no data | no data |
| November 2025 | 4.2% | 4.0% |
| December 2025 | 3.9% | 3.6% |
| January 2026 | 4.5% | 4.3% |
| February 2026 | 4.2% | 4.0% |
| March 2026 | 3.8% | 3.6% |
| April 2026 | 3.8% | 3.6% |
| May 2026 | 3.9% | 3.7% |
| June 2026 | 4.1% | 3.8% |
| July 2026 | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| August 2026 | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| September 2026 | 3.4% | 3.3% |
The BLS published no local figures for October 2025 because of the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations, the agency notes on each series.
What it means for you
- If you are looking for work, NCWorks runs the state’s job centers and listings at ncworks.gov. The City of Winston-Salem posts its own openings on its careers page.
- If you run a business, a lower rate and a smaller labor force both mean fewer people looking for work, so hiring may take longer.
- Job losses already announced are not in these numbers yet. Foster’s plant on Lowery Street plans to lay off 169 workers in March 2027, according to the state’s layoff notices. Read our story on the Foster closing.
- The September figures are preliminary. The BLS revises them with the next month’s release, and we will update this story when it does.
For more on the local economy, see our pages on home prices and rents against home values.
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