Daniel Prince
State, national unemployment rate falls
The July unemployment figures are out. This was the first month after South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster issued a directive opting out of federal pandemic programs as of the final week of June.
Statewide, more than 10,000 people found jobs since the end of June, and just over 3600 moved off the unemployment rolls. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 4.5% to 4.3%. Nationwide, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.9% to 5.4%.
For Union County, the unemployment situation held fairly steady. The labor force dropped by 12 people, and 12 fewer people were employed. The county’s unemployment rate remains at 6.9%, 7th-highest in the state and highest in the Upstate. Since last July, there are 95 fewer people in the labor force, but there are 531 more people working now than then, and the unemployment rate has dropped from 12% last July to the current 6.9%.