LUMBERTON — A report obtained by The Robesonian Friday shows jobs in the county’s Health Care sector declined slightly but not enough to knock it out of its spot as the dominant job provider in the county.

The Health Care sector provided 6,805 jobs in Robeson County in 2023’s first quarter, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. That represents 18.14% of all jobs in the county.

Jobs in the Manufacturing sector (6,726) represented 17.93% of all jobs in Robeson County.

During the last couple of years, the Job Sector Top Five has been led by either Manufacturing or Health Care. The rest of the 2023 First Quarter Top Five were Retail Trade, 4,910 jobs (13%); Educational Services, 4,847 jobs (13%) and Tourism, 3,413 jobs (9%).

There has been little change to the top job sectors during the past year, even with pandemic-era job fluctuations.

The industry reports complements the July unemployment report, which was released two weeks ago and showed a slight increase in Robeson County’s unemployment rate during July, the most recent month for which data is available.

The rate increased from 5.2% in June to 5.5% in July, according to data from the Commerce Department.

Robeson County was among 27 other counties in the state that saw jobless rate increases in July, increased in 27.

Statewide, major industries experiencing job increases were Leisure & Hospitality Services(Tourism), 5,500; Government, 4,200; Education & Health Services, 3,100; Financial Activities, 2,000; Manufacturing, 400; and Other Services, 100. Major industries experiencing job decreases were Information, 1,000; Professional & Business Services, 600; Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 400; Construction, 200; and Mining & Logging, 100.

Of note, Scotland County, Robeson County’s closest neighbor to the west had the highest unemployment rate at 6.7%

The next financial report to be made available from the Commerce Department will be later this month when the statewide unemployment rate for August is expected to be released.