The State
Posted on Tue, Dec. 20, 2011
Staff reports
South Carolina’s jobless rate fell below 10 percent in November for the first time since April as retailers beefed up sales staff for an unexpectedly good holiday shopping season and others dropped out of the job search.
The state’s jobless rate dropped more than half a percentage to 9.9 percent from 10.5 percent in October, according to a report from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce released this morning.
It was the largest monthly drop in the 35 years that statistics have been kept in the state.
Overall, nonfarm employment grew 15,000 from October to November and is up nearly 31,000 from a year ago – the largest increase for the same time period since 2006.
Folks found 7,100 jobs in retail and 6,600 in professional and business services. Manufacturing, which has been a bright spot for the state, continued its climb, adding 900 jobs between October and November.
The national unemployment rate also saw a significant decrease, from 9 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November.
“Through the efforts of the businesses in our state who have hired more South Carolinians, we have seen a significant decrease in the unemployment rate,” said S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director Abraham Turner. “We want to partner with employers to help train the state’s workforce because we know that training is the most important component in providing businesses with a skilled and productive labor force. Through a partnership of this kind, I am optimistic that job growth will continue in the coming months.”
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