Carrier management in a wireless communication device assigned a set of two or more carriers by a wireless communication network is disclosed. In one aspect, a method of carrier management includes transmitting data over the wireless communication network on one or more carriers forming a subset of active carriers from the set of carriers assigned to the wireless communication device. A first performance metric is determined indicative of operating conditions across the set of carriers assigned to the wireless communication device. A desired number of carriers on which to transmit data based on the first performance metric is determined. The desired number of carriers on which to transmit data is compared with the number of carriers in the subset of active carriers. The subset of active carriers is dynamically adjusted based on the comparison and subsequent data is transmitted over the wireless communication network using the adjusted subset of active carriers.