S.C. Unemployment on the Rise
Lexington County's rate fell to the state's lowest and Richland County's rate held at 10.5 percent.
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Amidst a highly volatile global economy that saw U.S. unemployment fall slightly in July, South Carolina saw an increase.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in South Carolina rose from 10.5 to 10.9 percent in July, according to figures released Friday by the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.
In the Midlands, Lexington County continued to have one of the strongest workforces and the state's lowest unemployment at 8.6 percent, down from 8.8 percent. There were still nearly 11,600 people looking for jobs, however.
Richland County, meanwhile, saw its rate remain the same at 10.5 percent, with more than 19,000 people out of work.
State officials say the jump is due to an increase in the number of people moving to the state, combined with a significant increase in new graduates flooding the job market in search of first-time careers.
“As people hear about job announcements in South Carolina, they are re-entering the labor force searching for employment opportunities,” said John Finan, executive director of the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.
South Carolina non-farm employment fell by 7,200 which is less than the average June-July loss of 18,000. Only two sectors reported a decline last month. Government reported a loss of 13,600 and financial activities had a loss of 200.
The state's labor force grew by approximately 4,100 from June to July, the largest increase this year. The influx of jobseekers to the state increased the total number of unemployed by 10,360 to 236,420 for July.
“While the unemployment rate ticked up this month, it is a promising sign that those people once discouraged about seeking work are now joining the labor force," Finan said.
"However, competition in the state is tough as there are currently more job seekers than job openings. We feel confident as the number of new job announcements come to fruition; our state unemployment rate will again begin to trend down.”
The state reports the largest gains were in trade, transportation and utilities (+1,700) and leisure and hospitality (+1,400). Education and health services also reported a gain of 1,300. Officials credit the high gains in trade, transportation and utilities to an early push on back-to-school sales and tourism.
The Department of Labor and Workforce also saw continued growth in manufacturing registering growth for the sixth consecutive month. Monthly figures show an increase of 1,800 jobs in July.
Nationally, the unemployment rate saw only a slight decrease from 9.2 percent down to 9.1 percent with 13.9 million persons unemployed. There were a total of 117,000 non-farm payroll jobs added in July, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.
The highest increases nationally were seen in health care, retail trade, manufacturing, and mining sectors. Health care saw the highest increase with 31,000 jobs added in July.
Government employment saw a decrease of 37,000 jobs of which state government took the majority with 23,000 job cuts. The Department of Labor reports the state government decline was almost entirely due to a partial shutdown of the Minnesota state government.
Mimi
5:44 pm on Friday, August 19, 2011
Lets just keep doing the same thing hoping for a different outcome. Maybe Nimrata can take some advice from the superstar Ricky Perry (Jim Jones) on how to completly destroy the state (whats left of it anyway) When will south Carolina wake up and send the Republicans packing???? When???
Dr. John
5:54 am on Saturday, August 20, 2011
Yeah, Gov. Rick Perry has destroyed Texas with an unemployment rate that is 2.5% lower that SC. He has governed over a state with no state income tax but yet has grown the economy. Mimi, Do you think it is fair that no one in Texas pays state income tax (including the rich). I wonder if all of those evil people in Texas should contract Lyme disease since they don't pay state income tax. Afterall, you stated that God was punishing Joe Wilson with Lyme disease because you thought he was evil.
Strange also is that the housing market in Texas has been recovering? You see that happened because Texas has had hundreds of thousands of new people move into the state over the last two years and there is a demand for homes. Now why would so many people want to move there? Answer: Homes there have value, there are jobs and there are low taxes. Not that references or facts have any value to you, but I will include them for the benefit of others.
http://www.texasahead.org/economy/tracking/
Mimi
4:16 am on Sunday, August 21, 2011
Dr. John you really have a problem dealing with facts don't you. The only jobs that Gov. Ricky boy has created are minimum wage jobs WITH THE STIMULUS money he received. I grew up in Florida and didn't pay any state taxes, I can't for the life of me tell WHY South Carolina pays state tax. Further more on Texas MOST of the taxes are paid by the poor and the middle class. Furthermore Texas benefits GREATLY by the military contracts and OIL prices. I could spend all day listing web sites to visit to get FACTS from instead of Faux news, but as you said it would be a waste of time. Just Google Rick Perrys economy and you will have more material than you can read that will prove that Rick Perry is nothing but a opportunist taking advange of STIMULUS.
SCNEOCON
8:04 pm on Friday, August 19, 2011
What's left of it? You forget past Idiots in Chief like Jim "We depwatley need a lawtowey" Hodges and Rino Carroll Campell chose to ignore the underlying issues facing this state and enrich themselves instead. True conservatives like Nikki Haley know that real progress comes with some pain. We're going to drag this state back into the black without the Federal Govt. & we'll do it if we have drag you Libtards along kicking & screaming. It seems that's what you do best.
Mimi
3:54 am on Sunday, August 21, 2011
well scneocon if what you say is even close to true we will have to stop living off of government funds. South Carolina is # 8 in the country that receives federal funds. Now if you could get Nimrata to stop spending 17 thousand a month in groceries that might help fix a few roads.
Mimi
6:31 am on Sunday, August 21, 2011
http://www.businessinsider.com/texas-state-budget-crisis-2011-1
Dr. John
6:45 am on Sunday, August 21, 2011
Thank you for the 8 month old story. This problem was fixed 2 weeks after this story ran. If you also look further you will find that the budget shortfall came from the one time injection of stimulus money after last year so that programs that have been expanded in that time had to take a cold dip into reality.
Dr. John
6:58 am on Sunday, August 21, 2011
Sorry Mimi, yo were wrong again on the minimum wage jobs in Texas.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2011-07-25-texas-a-magnet-for-jobs_n.htm?csp=34news
Also, what is wrong with producing oil? You need to know that it is the production of cheap and abundant energy that brought america and the world out of the dark, it made it possible to have major medical, transportation, health, social and economic growth that brought this country from feeding itself with 98 out of 100 people working in agriculture to just 2 out of 100 that feed the United States and millions more in the rest of the world. Just look at the advocation of free speech through a computer, on the internet as a great example of a social benefit from oil.
SCNEOCON
12:45 pm on Monday, August 22, 2011
Honestly, Mimi - you Libs must the same fuzzy data base for all your weird imaginary facts. And by the way, your continued use of the term "Nimrata" has racial & sexist overtones. We Tea-Baggers are offended. Here you go Mimi: Top 10 states receiving the most Federal Aid. (Source: Brookings Institution / U.S. Census Bureau 2010.):
1. District of Columbia - $2,755,612,462.00 ($4,656.00 per capita)
2. Vermont - $1,785,325,775.00 ($2873.00 per capita)
3. Alaska - $1,766,482,469.00 ($2574 per capita)
4. New York - $44,849,837,749.00 ($2301 per capita)
5. Massachusetts - $13,790,803,911.00 ($2122 per capita)
6. Louisiana - $8,849,181,613.00 ($2028 per capita)
7. Tennessee - $12,280,167,981.00 ($1975 per capita)
8. Maine - $2,532,354,468.00 ($1923 per capita)
9. New Mexico - $3,804,225,608.00 ($1917 per capita)
10. Mississippi - $5,584,088,732.00 ($1900 per capita)