(RALEIGH) -- Unemployment rates increased in 99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in January. That is according to the latest figures released Friday by the state’s Employment Security Commission.

“We continue to recognize that there are still challenges ahead of us as we continue to rebuild our local economies," said ESC Chairman Lynn R. Holmes.

Washington County was the only county where the jobless rate did not go up.  There, the January rate remained the same at 11.6 percent. Graham County recorded the higher unemployment rate at 19.4 percent. Seventy-seven counties posted an unemployment rate at or above 10 percent. Thirty-seven counties were at or below the state’s unadjusted jobless rate of 10.5 percent.