Hiring in South Carolina in 2024
By Lainey Stalnaker, Data Analytics Writer
Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), collecting data on job openings, hires, and separations at both the national and state level. These data are available for all nonfarm establishments and are seasonally adjusted.[1] Following the COVID-19 pandemic, South Carolina recorded a jump in hiring amid drastic fluctuation in the labor market, but the most recent data suggest that the market is finally stabilizing.
In South Carolina, hires hit a peak of 137,000 in November of 2021. Hiring has gradually declined since that period of record highs but remains well above pre-pandemic levels. Prior to 2020, hires rarely exceeded 100,000 each month, but this hiring level has since become the norm, perhaps as a result of growth in the labor force.
Hiring was slightly lower in 2024 than in 2023. The average number of hires in 2023 was 109,000 per month. Between January and November of 2024, the average fell to 106,700. Hiring was also higher in the beginning of 2024—a 12 month high of 119,000 was recorded in January. Hiring then slowed, falling to 97,000 in August and again in November, shown in Figure 1. The hires rate, a calculation of hires as a proportion of employment, was lower at the end of 2024. A rate of 5.1 was recorded in January, which fell to 4.0 in November, as shown in Figure 2. Altogether, this suggests that employers are not as focused on expanding payrolls as they were a few years ago, when turnover was unusually high, an indication that the labor market is coming back into balance.
