North Carolina's unemployment rate dipped slightly in November but hovered near its historic peak of around 11 percent for a 10th straight month.

The state's Employment Security Commission reported Friday that the unemployment rate in November dipped a fraction to 10.8 percent, from 10.9 percent in October. The monthly estimate has yo-yoed slightly above and below 11 percent since February.

North Carolina's unemployment rate has been worse than the national average for more than a year. The U.S. jobless rate was 10 percent in November.

North Carolina's jobless rate was 7.5 percent in November 2008. Since then, the state has paid more than $4.3 billion in unemployment benefits, including emergency compensation and extended benefits.