S.C businesses add jobs; unemployment rate inches up

South Carolina businesses continued to add jobs in December to a new record level with the Hospitality and Tourism and Construction sectors leading the way.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 4.1 percent in December from November’s rate of 4 percent.

The number of individuals working across the state decreased by 5,104 people to 2,227,542, while the number of unemployed individuals increased by 3,708 to 96,434. The state’s labor force decreased by 1,396 to an estimated 2,323,976 people.

Since December 2016, the labor force has grown by 25,889 people, and employment gains totaled nearly 27,680. The level of unemployed people decreased by 1,791.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged, remaining at 4.1 percent in December.

Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Seasonally Adjusted1)

December 2017 seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payrolls increased by 2,900 over the month to a record level of 2,117,200.

The state’s job count rose in Leisure and Hospitality (+5,800); Construction (+2,200); Education and Health Services (+600); Manufacturing (+400); and Other Services (+100).

Industries recording job losses during the same month were Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-3,400); Professional and Business Services (-2,300); Government (-200); Information (-100); and Financial Activities (-100).

From December 2016 to December 2017, South Carolina’s economy has added 46,500 seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs.

Industries reporting gains were Professional and Business Services (+11,800); Manufacturing (+9,300); Education and Health Services (+7,100); Leisure and Hospitality (+6,300); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+4,200); Government (+3,300); Construction (+2,500); Other Services (+2,100); and Financial Activities (+1,000).

Declines were reported in Information (-1,100).

Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Not Seasonally Adjusted2)

Not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 1,400 from November 2017 to December 2017 for a total of 2,120,700.

Construction (+1,400); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+1,100); Manufacturing (+900); Education and Health Services (+600) and Other Services (+300) added jobs during the month.

Information remained the same.

Industries showing declines during the month were Professional and Business Services (-2,800); Leisure and Hospitality (-2,000); Government (-700); Financial Activities (-100); and Mining and Logging (-100).

Since December 2016, not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs were up 39,300 overall in South Carolina.

Industries marking annual gains were Professional and Business Services (+9,200); Manufacturing (+8,900); Education and Health Services (+7,400); Leisure and Hospitality (+4,700); Government (+3,200); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+2,600); Construction (+2,200); Other Services (+1,500); and Financial Activities (+700).

Mining and Logging held steady.

Decreases occurred in the Information (-1,100) sector.

1Seasonally Adjusted: Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year (i.e. tourist-related hiring and school closings in the summer). These adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical and other nonseasonal movements in data over time.

2Not Seasonally Adjusted: Effects of regular or seasonal patterns have not been removed from these data