(RALEIGH) -- North Carolina’s August unemployment rate ticked up another tenth of a point to 9.7 percent. The August jobless rate is 1 percent lower than it was in August of 2011 but still remains above the national average of 8.1 percent.

“Looking at the data long-term, North Carolina has added nearly 98,000 nonfarm jobs since January 2010,” said N.C. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll.

The number of people employed in August declined by 5,801 to 4,196,322.  North Carolina's unemployment rate remained flat at 9.4 percent through much of the spring and early summer before rising to 9.6 percent in July.