South Carolina Unemployment Hits 12.1%

October's 12.1% was four-tenths of a point higher than the adjusted 11.7% reported in Septmber.

By: Fred Cunningham | WSPA-TV
Published: November 20, 2009

The jobless rate in South Carolina hit 12.1% in October as nearly 10,000 more people lost jobs.

The S.C. Employment Security Commission says that was four-tenths of a point higher than the adjusted 11.7% reported in September. A total of 262,956 people are unemployed in the state.

The national unemployment figure is 10.1% in October.

The highest unemployment rate is in Allendale county at 22.2%, while the lowest figure is the 8.6% reported in Lexington County.

There were some job gains in October in professional and business services along with government and retail trade. Those gains were offset by the loss of 6,500 jobs in leisure and hospitality along with manufacturing and construction.

"Going forward, our state faces significant challenges as it tries to replace the large number of jobs lost due to the recession that began in December of 2007," said Sam Foster, Interim Executive Director of the Commission in a written release.

The SCESC reports there are 95,000 fewer workers now compared to when the recession started.

Here's the unemployment numbers for counties in the Upstate with their ranking included among South Carolina's 46 counties:

(5) Union 20.6%
(12) Cherokee 16.8%
(19) Abbeville 15.2%
(t20) Oconee 14.3%
(22) Greenwood 14.2%
(27) Anderson 12.9%
(28) Spartanburg 12.5%
(32) Newberry 11.9%
(33) Laurens 11.8%
(36) Pickens 11.0%
(38) Greenville 10.6%

NC unemployment rate bumps up to 11 percent

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina's unemployment rate rose slightly to 11 percent in October, a fraction off its historic peak earlier this year and the ninth straight month in double digits.

The state's Employment Security Commission on Friday reported the jobless rate continued to hover around 11 percent, as it has for nearly all of this year. September's rate was 10.8 percent.

The state's unemployment rate in October 2008 was 7 percent.

North Carolina's unemployment rate has been worse than the national average for more than a year and that continued in October, when the U.S. figure was 10.2 percent.

Construction suffered the greatest losses, shedding about 6,600 North Carolina jobs in October. Education, health services and government jobs saw the greatest employment growth.