New Federal Data Show Continued Strong Labor Market

Hires Outpaced Quits by 41,000 in June 2023

Columbia, S.C. – On August 16, 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released new state-level Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for June 2023. Over the month, there were modest declines in job openings, hires, and quits, with layoffs unchanged at very low levels. These data are summarized below.

Note: Numbers are seasonally adjusted.

“The numbers shown here reflect the national trend, which is a modest cooling of the labor market from the frenzy we saw coming out of the pandemic,” said Dr. Bryan Grady, Assistant Executive Director for Labor Market Information (LMI) at the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW). “The number of  businesses looking to hire remains very high, and we’ve seen South Carolina’s labor force participation rate rise throughout 2023 as workers come off the sidelines to take advantage of those opportunities.”

“With 41,000 more hires than quits in June, as well as 6,000 fewer quits than the prior month, the JOLTS data reflect a steady job market for our state,” stated DEW Executive Director William Floyd. “Our SC Works Online Database alone has over 83,000 job openings currently listed on the website. This is prime  time to find work and workers in South Carolina. As we near Workforce Development Month in September, opportunities for employers to hire qualified candidates and for jobseekers to connect with great jobs, such as through in person or virtual job fairs, will only continue to expand.”

Please email communications@dew.sc.gov with 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 and includes links to our monthly Trends newsletter and many other resources.