South Carolina’s Employment Situation 

March 2019

Number of South Carolinians Employed Continues Record Climb

Unemployment Rate Remains At Historic Lows

 

The number of individuals working moved substantially higher, by an estimated 6,826 people, establishing a new record of 2,274,185.

Unemployment estimates increased over the month by 1,803 to 76,309 people. The state’s labor force increased by approximately 8,629 to 2,350,494 people.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.2 percent.

Since March of 2018, employment gains moved markedly higher by approximately 41,030 people, and the labor force estimate rose by nearly 32,396 people. The level of unemployed moved lower by roughly 8,634 people.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8 percent.

Nonagricultural Employment by Industry (Seasonally Adjusted1)

In March 2019, seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payrolls decreased by 2,100 over the month to a level of 2,170,000.

The decline was mostly due to downturns in the Professional and Business Services (-3,200); Financial Activities (-700); Leisure and Hospitality (-700); and Construction (-500) industries.

Industries reporting increases were Education and Health Services (+800); Manufacturing (+700); Other Services (+600); Government (+500); and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+200). Information remained constant.

 

From March 2018 to March 2019, South Carolina’s economy has added 31,000 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs.

Industries marking growth were Manufacturing (+9,200); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+8,200); Education and Health Services (+7,100); Leisure and Hospitality (+6,200); Government (+4,900); and Professional and Business Services (+100).

Decreases were seen in Construction (-4,400); Information (-300); Financial Activities (-100); and Other Services (-100).

Nonagricultural Employment by Industry (Not Seasonally Adjusted2)

Not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 12,900 from February 2019 to March 2019 for a total of 2,163,300. This increase is typical as many private businesses increase hiring at the start of spring.

Industries that saw growth were Leisure and Hospitality (+8,600); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+2,900); Government (+1,400); Education and Health Services (+1,300); Manufacturing (+1,200); Other Services (+1,100); and Mining and Logging (+200).

Industries reporting losses were Professional and Business Services (-2,500); Construction (-1,000); and Financial Activities (-300). The Information industry remained flat.

 

Since March 2018, not seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs were up 32,000 overall in South Carolina.

Industries marking strong annual gains were Manufacturing (+9,300); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+9,200); Education and Health Services (+7,600); Leisure and Hospitality (+6,400); Government (+4,300); Mining and Logging (+200); and Other Services (+100).

Industries reporting declines were Construction (-4,400); Information (-500); and Financial Activities (-200).

Professional and Business Services have remained stagnant over the year.

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.