(The Center Square) — South Carolina’s unemployment rate remained at 2.9% in October, below the national rate of 3.9%.
Additionally, state officials said total employment grew to a new record of nearly 2.4 million people working in South Carolina. Officials noted increases in the finance, insurance, professional, scientific, and technical services sectors.
South Carolina’s unemployment rate was lower than neighboring Georgia and North Carolina, both of which stood at 3.4%. The Palmetto State’s labor force participation rate in October increased to 57%, up from 56.2% in October 2022 but down from 57.5% in January 2020.
“Nearly every economic sector grew or stayed the same month-over-month,” S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director William Floyd said in an announcement. “Digging deeper into these sectors and understanding the jobs in the different industries is key to being able to appropriately support the workforce.”
Earlier this month, DEW announced an enhancement to its State Unemployment Insurance Tax System, allowing businesses to identify their workforce’s occupations, which state officials say should help improve the state’s workforce development efforts.
“Enhancing insight into the employers’ occupations will help fine-tune workforce development on a regional and state-wide basis and, in the long-term, better match the needs of employers and jobseekers,” Floyd said.
“One of South Carolina’s most reliable sources of workers is our veterans. More than 175,000 veterans are employed in the state, with approximately 83.6% of veterans aged 18 to 34 in the labor force, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022 estimates,” Floyd added. “Workforce specialists at DEW, many of whom are veterans, daily connect veterans and other jobseekers with employment opportunities.”
