(RALEIGH) -- Unemployment rates decreased in 73 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in April, according to the latest figures from the State Employment Security Commission.  The number of counties with a jobless rate at or above 10 percent increased from 47 in March to 53 in April.

“Rates continue to decline across North Carolina as nearly half of North Carolina’s 100 counties are back below 10 percent,” said ESC Chairman Lynn R. Holmes.

North Carolina had 36 counties that were at or below the state’s unadjusted unemployment rate of 9.5 percent. Rates decreased in 10 of the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas and remained the same in four.