South Carolina’s Employment Situation    

June 2018

Employment levels reach new highs, unemployment rate declines to 3.8 percent

The number of individuals working across the state reached a new high in June, increasing by 648 people to an estimated level of 2,226,062. Unemployment decreased significantly for the third consecutive month by nearly 5,425 people to 87,080. While the state’s labor force declined by 4,777 to 2,313,142 people, seasonally adjusted jobs have increased by 3,400 over the month to a record level of 2,125,700.

The changes in the state’s labor force pushed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 3.8 percent from May’s estimate of 4.0 percent.

Since June of 2017, the labor force has grown by nearly 2,637 people, and employment gains totaled 12,231. The level of unemployed was lower, declining by 9,594 people.

Nationally, the unemployment rate edged upward to 4.0 percent from May’s rate of 3.8 percent.

Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Seasonally Adjusted1)

June 2018 seasonally adjusted, non-farm payrolls increased by 3,400 over the month to a record level of 2,125,700.

The state’s job count rose in Leisure and Hospitality (+4,900); Education and Health Services (+1,500); Other Services (+1,300); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+700); Manufacturing (+700); Government (+500); and Financial Activities (+400).

Industries recording job losses during the same month were Professional and Business Services (-4,800); Construction (-1,600); and Information (-100).

From June 2017 to June 2018, South Carolina’s economy has added 35,200 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs.

Industries with noticeable gains were Leisure and Hospitality (+11,700); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+10,400); Education and Health Services (+7,900); Manufacturing (+3,900); Other Services (+3,800); and Government (+3,600).

Declines were reported in Construction (-4,000); Professional and Business Services (-2,100); and Information (-100), while Financial Activities (0) remained constant.

Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Not Seasonally Adjusted2)

Not seasonally adjusted, non-farm payroll employment increased by 8,200 from May 2018 to June 2018 for a total of 2,145,500.

Industries showing notable growth were Leisure and Hospitality (+11,700); Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+2,900); Financial Activities (+1,900); Manufacturing (+1,400); and Other Services grew by (+600).

Mining and Logging remained the same.

Industries declining during the month were Government (-3,900); Professional and Business Services (-3,700); Construction (-1,500); Education and Health Services (-1,100); and Information (-100).

 

Since June 2017, not-seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs were up 36,300 overall in South Carolina.

Industries marking strong annual gains were Leisure and Hospitality (+12,800); Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+10,300); Education and Health Services (+6,500); Other Services (+3,800); Government (+3,100); Manufacturing (+3,000); Professional and Business Services (+200); Mining and Logging (+200); and Financial Activities (+100).

Losses were seen in Construction (-3,400); and Information (-300).

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.