North Carolina's unemployment rate is fifth highest in the nation. And it is not expected to fall quickly.

The state is on track to bring unemployment below 7 percent statewide and below 6 percent in the Triangle by 2015, according to N.C. State University economist Michael Walden. He tracks the state's economic growth.

Walden notes that the state's three biggest metropolitan areas -- the Triangle, triad and Charlotte -- have increased jobs at a 7 percent rate since early 2010. Job growth outside those areas has been at a slower 3 percent rate.

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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, N.C. Division of Employment Security. Seasonally adjusted by Wells Fargo in Charlotte.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, N.C. Division of Employment Security. Seasonally adjusted.

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Source: Unemployment data from the N.C. Division of Employment Security was seasonally adjusted by James W. Kleckley, Ph.D., director of the Bureau of Business Research at East Carolina University.