County's Unemployment Rate Up Slightly in December
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at 9:55AM South Carolina businesses continued to add jobs in December to a new record level with the Hospitality and Tourism and Construction sectors leading the way.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 4.1 percent in December from November’s rate of 4 percent.
In Anderson County, the rate was also up slightly to 3.9 percent, from the 3.6 rate posted in November.
Of the county's workforce of 89,544, 86,091 were employed, leaving 3,453 without jobs.
“The only consistent thing about the numbers statewide is that everybody’s unemployment rate went up," said Steve Newton, Governental Affairs Director for Anderson County. "In several counties—Charleston and Lexington being examples—we observe contraction in both labor force participation and the number of persons employed. In Anderson and other counties, we saw slight increases in labor force participation and employment. I find it encouraging for us in Anderson County that neither our labor force nor employment numbers declined in December.”
The number of individuals working across the state decreased by 5,104 people to 2,227,542, while the number of unemployed individuals increased by 3,708 to 96,434. The state’s labor force decreased by 1,396 to an estimated 2,323,976 people.
Since December 2016, the labor force has grown by 25,889 people, and employment gains totaled nearly 27,680. The level of unemployed people decreased by 1,791.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged, remaining at 4.1 percent in December.
Reader Comments