South Carolina’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 0.2 percent to 6.5 percent in December, according to the state Department of Employment and Workforce. Nationally, the unemployment rate dropped also by 0.2 percent to 5.6 percent.
“We have a record high number of South Carolinians working, a record high labor force and record high number of jobs in the Palmetto State,” said DEW Executive Director Cheryl M. Stanton in a statement. “Now we need to focus on Succeed South Carolina, Gov. [Nikki] Haley’s recently-announced initiative that will prepare South Carolina workers for high-demand jobs and match jobseekers with the more than 60,000 currently open jobs.”
According to a press release from the department, there also are new records in employment and the labor force:
- “The state’s labor force continued to expand with an increase of 4,459 people in December, setting another all-time high of 2,202,017. The estimated number of unemployed people decreased by 2,784 to 143,360.
- “Since December 2013, the labor force has increased by an estimated 33,793 people with 32,770 of them having found work. Also, the state’s unemployment rate has declined by 0.1 percentage points over the year.”
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