RALEIGH (AP) — Federal grant money worth nearly $19 million will be distributed to nine North Carolina community colleges, including Beaufort County Community College, to fund job training and development programs aimed at helping unemployed workers.

The office of U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan announced the grants Monday. Hagan says the funding supports partnerships between community colleges and employers in fields ranging from biotechnology to health care.

Each of the nine community colleges getting the funding is partnered with at least one employer with available jobs and a need for trained workers.

The grant funding will go to schools in Beaufort, Robeson, Craven, Nash, Edgecombe, Davidson, Surry, Haywood and Buncombe counties.

The most recent figures have North Carolina’s unemployment rate at 10.4 percent, compared to the national average of 9.1 percent.