Though around 290,000 North Carolinians have gone back to work in recent months, hundreds of thousands remain unemployed statewide. Last year in August, that figure was about 32% with far fewer people unemployed overall at the time, so less than 2 million people facing prolonged unemployment a year ago. Still, the current recession is unlike previous ones, said Mike Walden, a distinguished professor and extension economist at NC State University, because the recession was caused by governments closing off the economy to slow the spread of the virus, rather than financial speculation.