Updated Federal Data Show South Carolina Labor Market is Moving Forward

South Carolina businesses reported 187,000 job openings in December 2022

Columbia, S.C. – On Wednesday, February 15, 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released new state-level Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for December 2022. While the number of quits and layoffs increased modestly from November, the number of job openings and hires ticked up. Over the year, the state saw lower levels of quits and layoffs but also experienced lower demand for labor in the hires and job opening figures.

“Looking back at 2022, we saw a lot of mobility within the workforce, which is indicative of a strong labor market and economy overall,” said Dr. Bryan Grady, Labor Market Information (LMI) Director at the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW). “One company’s quit was another company’s hire, and data throughout the year demonstrates that workers had a wide array of available job opportunities with hundreds of thousands of job openings available every month.”

“One of our agency’s ongoing goals is to find new ways to encourage individuals to join the labor force, including those we refer to as ‘sideliners’ who were previously employed yet have not returned to work and are not actively seeking employment,” stated S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director Dan Ellzey. “Dr. Grady mentioned how mobility in the workforce keeps our job market strong statewide, but these sideliners can have an even greater positive influence on hire rates if they choose to reenter the workforce. We will continue to focus our efforts on studying sideliners and working with other agencies to help facilitate their return to employment. Interested members of the press can also learn more about our agency’s Rural Initiatives to increase hire rates and job retention in our most underserved communities here.”

Please email communications@dew.sc.gov with any press inquiries or interview requests for the LMI Division. DEW also has an agency dashboard that provides easily accessible economic and workforce data, and the LMI website at scworkforceinfo.com has been updated to improve the user experience. DEW offers a monthly publication, Trends, which provides additional LMI information, as well.