Jackson County, NC jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Jackson County’s unemployment rate is 2.6%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 5 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Jackson County economy

2.6%
unemployment, Sep 2026
3.3% the month before
22,914
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
43,089
people in Jackson County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$53,479
median household income
Source: Census ACS
32%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where Jackson County ranks

Where Jackson County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

November 2026

#8Counties with the lowest unemployment in the Southeast2.6% · of 100

Jackson County outlook: Building

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

Private-sector jobs up 9.2% from 2022 to 2025
Population up 6.9% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 2.6%, down 0.7 points from a year ago
Sectors adding the most jobs: hotels & food (+411 jobs)

Learn and get funded in Jackson 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.

Jackson County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Jackson 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.

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Jackson 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.

Strickland Brothers1 open role
Western Carolina University1 open role

Colleges in Jackson County

Colleges in Jackson County
College	City	Type	Students
Western Carolina University	Cullowhee	Public 4-year	10,000–19,999

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Jackson 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).

Southwestern Workforce Development Board
Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain

NCWorks Career Center- Jackson County
Sylva · Affiliate · 828-586-4063
Mon and Wed 8:30 am -4:30 pm,(Closed 12pm-1pm for lunch) Fri 8:30-12:pm

Cities in Jackson County

Other North Carolina counties

All of North Carolina

Laid off or looking for work in Jackson County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: 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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