N.C. finance employment grows slightly

North Carolina's finance employment grew slightly in July, as the industry continues to rebound from the financial crisis, according to new data from the state commerce department.

Total state "financial activities" employment hit a not-seasonally-adjusted 209,000 in July, up 1.6 percent from July 2011. That beats out the pace of overall private sector growth, which was 1.3 percent. The state's financial sector is still 4 percent off its 2008 peak.

That's slower than the pace of growth in Charlotte. Earlier this month, federal data showed financial activity growth of 2.5 percent in June over the year before.