HYDE COUNTY — The number of employed Hyde County residents recently took a hit, according to the latest data from the Labor & Economics Analysis Division.

During November 2016, Hyde County saw a jobless rate of 9.4 percent, a jump from 7.1 percent in October 2016, according to LEAD numbers.

This was the lowest jobless rate in North Carolina in November 2016.

A jobless rate, or unemployment rate, is determined by dividing the number of unemployed residents by the number in the labor force. The rate does not include residents whose unemployment benefits expired and are not listed as unemployed.

Kris Cahoon Noble, assistant county manager and director of planning and economic development, said similar dips happen this time every year, and she thinks it can be attributed to the seasonal nature of Hyde’s major industries: agriculture, fishing, hunting and tourism on Ocracoke.

Noble said secondary industries, such as manufacturing and wholesale, are largely dependent upon the main industries to succeed.

Poor weather conditions at the end of 2016 didn’t help matters.

“I think (unemployment) may be just a little bit higher this year. I’d attribute that to Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew also greatly affected those major industries,” Noble said. “It’s not uncommon to have these unemployment rates in Hyde County.”

In November 2015, Hyde posted an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent, another substantial jump from 6.8 percent in October 2015, according to LEAD data.

After Hurricane Matthew traveled up the East Coast in October 2016, leaving weeks of flooding in its wake, Hyde County farmers ended up seeing a 75-percent loss on cotton crops and a 60-percent loss on soybeans, according to Noble. Tourism on Ocracoke Island also took a hit with Matthew’s arrival.

“There’s really no immediate fix, but at our Office of Economic Development, we have been working really hard to grow the Ag and fishing industries,” Noble said, adding that there is also a push to keep visitors coming to Ocracoke later in the year.

County officials also want to see more visitors coming to mainland Hyde for waterfowl season, she said.

Noble said the county is working with Beaufort County Community College to build a year-round customer base for smaller-scale manufacturing and online purchases to help offset the losses in the labor force.

Noble said she thinks the December 2016 unemployment numbers should be lower, citing an unusually long season for shrimpers.

“These winter months are always going to be challenging,” Noble said. “Every little percentage point helps.”