Burke County, NC jobs, unemployment and layoffs
Burke County economy
3.4%
unemployment, Aug 2026
4.2% the month before
37,832
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
87,863
people in Burke County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$55,684
median household income
Source: Census ACS
30%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS
Burke County layoffs
No WARN layoff notices naming Burke County in the last 12 months are on file. WARN covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.
Employers hiring most in Burke 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.
- Morganton Day School3 open roles
- Leviton2 open roles
- Hexion1 open role
- Rural King1 open role
- SGL Carbon1 open role
- Siegwerk1 open role
- StaffBright1 open role
- Truist Financial1 open role
- Vulcan Materials1 open role
Workforce development and job centers
The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Burke County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.
- Western Piedmont Workforce Development Board
Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba
NCWorks Career Center- Burke County
Morganton · Comprehensive · 828-544-6926
Mon-Tues 8:00am-5:30pm, Wed-8.00am-12:30pm (Closed Lunch 12:30p-1:30p)
Cities in Burke County
Other North Carolina counties
Laid off or looking for work in Burke 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); WARN notices from North Carolina’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers.