South Carolina Jobless Rate Soars to 10.4%

The Palmetto state unemployment rate is now the second highest in the nation. North Carolina also saw the number of jobless workers climb to 9.7% in numbers released Wednesday.

By: Fred Cunningham | News Channel 7
Published: March 11, 2009

The state unemployment rate has reached its highest level in nearly 26 years.

January's jobless rate was 10.4% according to the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. The commission also announced Wednesday that the December unemployment rate was revised from 9.5% down to 8.8% after a process with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Only Michigan - at 11.6% in January - has a higher percentage of unemployed workers in the nation according to the Bureau of Labor statistics.

January 2009's jobless figure was the highest since April, 1983 when South Carolina's unemployment was 10.7%.

The national jobless rate rose to 7.6% in January from a 7.2% rate in December.

The SCESC estimates 227,986 people are out of work. Practically all industry divisions experienced dramatic job losses.

Retail trade lost 11,700 positions in January. Other hard hit industries included 6,000 professional and business service job losses, another 5,900 in manufacturing, a total of 5,000 lost leisure and hospitality jobs and nearly 2,000 layoffs in construction.

Allendale County has the highest jobless rate in South Carolina at 23.4%. The lowest unemployment figure is 7.5% in Lexington County.

Here's where the Upstate counties stand with their rank in the state included:

7. Union 17.1%
14. Cherokee 15.6%
20. Oconee 13.3%
22. Abbeville 13.2%
25. Greenwood 12.9%
28. Anderson 11.5%
30. Laurens 11.0%
31. Spartanburg 10.8%
33. Newberry 10.6%
36. Pickens 9.8%
40. Greenville 8.9%

North Carolina unemployment hits 9.7%, highest in a quarter century

North Carolina’s unemployment rate increased to 9.7 percent in January, according to statistics released Wednesday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission. That's the highest mark since the figure was ten percent in March, 1983.

The jobless figure shot up from 8.1% in the revised December report for North Carolina.

Unemployment increased by 73,396 workers, to 443,069 according to the NCESC. The number of workers who were unemployed, but actively seeking work, remains at an all-time high.

Since this time last year, unemployment has increased by 215,362 people. North Carolina's unemployment rate one year ago was five percent.