Columbus County, NC jobs, unemployment and layoffs
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Show me jobs near meColumbus County economy
3.7%
unemployment, Sep 2026
4.1% the month before
19,758
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
50,453
people in Columbus County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$48,184
median household income
Source: Census ACS
33%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS
Columbus County outlook: Steady
Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.
- Private-sector jobs down 15.1% from 2022 to 2025
- Population up 0.0% from 2020 to 2025
- Unemployment 3.7%, down 0.4 points from a year ago
- Sectors losing the most jobs: admin & staffing (−1,337 jobs), manufacturing (−353 jobs)
Local job-market news
Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Columbus County. Each link goes to the publisher.
- Wilmington’s AugWork AI Helps Users Build Agentic Employees For Specific RolesGrepBeat · Oct 28, 2026
Learn and get funded in Columbus County
- Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
- Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
- Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
- Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.
Columbus County layoffs
No layoff notices naming Columbus County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.
Employers hiring most in Columbus County
Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.
- Cisco IOS2 open roles
- Black’s Tire and Auto Service1 open role
- Elevance Health1 open role
- gpac1 open role
- Provalus1 open role
- Rha Health Services1 open role
- Southeastern Community College1 open role
- v4c.ai1 open role
- V4C.ai1 open role
- Visit our1 open role
Workforce development and job centers
The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Columbus County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.
Laid off in North Carolina? How to file for unemployment in North Carolina (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).
- Cape Fear Workforce Development Consortium Board
Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender
NCWorks Career Center- Columbus County
Whiteville · Comprehensive · 910-788-6261
Monday-Thursday 8:00am-5:00pm Friday 8:00am-3:00pm
Cities in Columbus County
Other North Carolina counties
Laid off or looking for work in Columbus County?
See what to do first and the jobs open near you.
See your options after a layoffSources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from North Carolina’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. North Carolina unemployment benefits and severance rules.
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