South Carolina’s Employment Situation
April 2018

Unemployment rate declines to 4.2 percent, employment continues record climb

South Carolina’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent in April, down from 4.4 percent in March as the number of employed reached a new all time high.

The number of individuals working across the state inched upward in April by 318 people to a record level of 2,225,570. Unemployment decreased in April by 4,157 to a level of 97,922, resulting in the state’s labor force declining by 3,839 to 2,323,492.

Since April of 2017, the seasonally adjusted labor force has grown by 15,916 people, and employment gains totaled 16,266. The level of unemployed declined by approximately 350 people.

Nationally, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.9 percent from March’s rate of 4.1 percent. Similar to the state, driving the national rate lower was a decline in the labor force as fewer people looked for work.

Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Seasonally Adjusted1)

Seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payrolls remained the same from March 2018 to April 2018 with an employment level of 2,119,800.

The state’s job count rose in the sectors of Manufacturing (+900); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+600); Education and Health Services (+600); Other Services (+600); and Government (+200).

The industries recording job losses during the month were Construction (-1,300); Leisure and Hospitality (-1,200); Financial Activities (-200); Professional and Business Services (-100); and Information (-100).

From April 2017 to April 2018, South Carolina’s economy has added 35,500 seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs.

Industries with gains were Leisure and Hospitality (+8,600); Education and Health Services (+6,400); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+7,000); Professional and Business Services (+4,300); Manufacturing (+3,600); Other Services (+3,800); Government (+3,200); and Information (+300).

The Construction (-1,400) and Financial Services (-400) sectors were the only industries reporting declines over the year.

Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Not Seasonally Adjusted2)

Not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 9,200 from March 2018 to April 2018 for a total of 2,122,400.

Industries showing gains were Leisure and Hospitality (+7,500); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+1,200); Manufacturing (+900); Education and Health Services (+400); Government (+600); and Other Services (+300).

Mining and Logging remained constant.

The industries recording declines during the month were Construction (-1,200); Professional and Business Services (-300); Information (-100); and Financial Activities (-100).

 

Since April 2017, not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs were up 33,000 overall in South Carolina.

Industries marking annual gains were Leisure and Hospitality (+8,200); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+7,500); Education and Health Services (+6,700); Manufacturing (+3,600); Other Services (+3,300); Professional and Business Services (+2,400); Government (+2,400); Information (+200); and Mining and Logging (+100).

The industries that reported a job decline were Construction (-700) and Financial Activities (-700).

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.