SC’s unemployment rate improves in June despite decrease in total number of jobs

SC’s unemployment rate improves in June

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped to 10.7 percent in June, but figures released Tuesday by the Department of Employment and Workforce show the total number of jobs decreased as did the overall work force.

The jobless rate improved for the fifth straight month and was down from a revised 11.1 percent in May. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent in June, down from 9.7 percent.

The state lost 3,000 jobs during the month. And for the fourth straight month, South Carolina’s work force decreased — this time by almost 10,000 people. Nationally, the economy lost a net 125,000 jobs in June as temporary U.S. Census Bureau jobs ended and more than half-a-million people gave up looking for work.

“The drop in our state’s jobless rate has been largely driven by the unemployed dropping out of the labor force,” employment department executive director John L. Finan said in a news release. “We still have a long way to go in increasing consumer confidence, which will lead to increased demand and job growth.”

The bright spots in Tuesday’s report were increases in construction (900) and manufacturing (500) jobs during the month. Both of those sectors, however, were still off significantly from last year; construction by 8,900 jobs and manufacturing by 4,000 jobs.

South Carolina’s total jobs were up 14,100 compared with June 2009, but there still are about 100,000 fewer jobs today than there were before the recession began in December 2007, Finan said.

“Job growth in the private sector is really going to have to make some gains,” said University of South Carolina research economist Doug Woodward. “The unemployment rate is looking better, but there’s got to be some concern as stimulus spending starts to unwind this year.”

The state has had one of the nation’s highest jobless rates for several years, peaking at 12.5 percent in January and improving steadily since then.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Carolina had the seventh-worst jobless rate in the nation behind Nevada (14.2 percent), Michigan (13.2 percent), California (12.3 percent), Rhode Island (12 percent), Florida (11.4 percent) and Mississippi (11 percent).

“The state, much like the nation, has a ways to go to get back to where we were in terms of jobs,” College of Charleston economist Frank Hefner said, adding that it would take at least eight or nine months of solid job growth just to get back to where the state was in 2007.

Marion County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 18.6 percent while Aiken County had the lowest at 7.9 percent. Most counties reported higher jobless rates in June compared with May.