S.C. unemployment drops to 8.7% in June

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South Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.7% in June, down from May’s revised estimate of 12.4%.

The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce’s monthly survey of households estimated that the number of South Carolinians working in June increased to 2,222,144. That represented an increase of 105,714 people from May, though it is a decrease of 80,904 from June 2019.

The national unemployment rate declined to 11.1% in June from 13.3% in May.

South Carolina’s estimated labor force, or people working plus unemployed people looking for work, rose to 2,432,865, an increase of 16,767 people since May and 60,654 from June 2019.

The leisure and hospitality industry reported a gain of 29,600 jobs, while professional and business services saw an increase of 13,700. The information industry lost 200 jobs.

In June 2019, the state unemployment rate was 2.9%.

“There are many promising economic indicators in June’s employment situation, as reported in the seasonally adjusted, monthly survey of South Carolinians,” DEW executive director Dan Ellzey said in a news release. “More than 105,000 people rejoined the workforce since last month’s release. … There is still a long way to go and there’s much work to be done.”

Unemployment dropped in every S.C. county from May to June. Richland County saw a decrease to 8.6% percent in June from 10.1% in May, while Lexington County saw a drop from 8.1% in May to 6.5% in June. In June 2019, unemployment stood at 3.2% in Richland County and 2.6% in Lexington County.