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Fri, 10/10/2025
Time Spent Unemployed Continues to Decline in South Carolina
By Lainey Stalnaker, Data Analytics Writer
The number of people employed in South Carolina has increased with unrivaled speed over the last few years as South Carolina has consistently outpaced most of the country in job gains. We’ve identified the sectors that are growing the fastest and the occupations we expect to flourish in the coming decade, but as we close out Workforce Development Month, we’re taking a deeper look at another metric—unemployment.
As defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a person is considered unemployed if they do not currently have a job but have been actively seeking one within the last four weeks. Actively seeking means taking steps that could result in a job offer, such as submitting an application, contacting an employer, or completing a job interview.
The majority of people who were unemployed in 2024 remained so for 14 weeks or less, with the largest group spending less than five weeks with that status.[1] See Figure 1 for a breakdown of the unemployed population by duration of unemployment.
18.5 percent of jobseekers in South Carolina were long-term unemployed in 2024, meaning they were actively searching for a job for 27 weeks or longer. In comparison, an average of 21.4 percent of jobseekers in the U.S. were long-term unemployed, suggesting that the average South Carolinian was able to find employment faster than the average American. [2]
Time spent unemployed has also declined in the last decade. In 2014, an unemployed person spent an average of 31.2 weeks searching for a job. In 2024, the average was just 18.9 weeks, as shown in Figure 2. The median has also fallen—from 14.3 to 9.0 weeks. This suggests that there are more job opportunities in South Carolina than in the past, and it is easier to find employment.
In addition, the number of discouraged workers has remained low. Discouraged workers are defined by BLS as “not currently looking for work specifically because they believe there are no jobs available for them.” They are not included in the labor force and therefore not counted in unemployment figures. It may be the case that unemployment has declined because people who think they cannot find work have exited the labor force; however, South Carolina has not recorded a significant increase in discouraged workers. In 2014, there were an average of 15,300 discouraged workers in South Carolina. In 2024, there were just 6,700.[3]
Altogether, these data suggest that outcomes are improving for jobseekers in South Carolina. The typical time spent unemployed has declined, and fewer workers are discouraged from seeking employment. Through strategic workforce development efforts, DEW will continue connecting jobseekers with employers in order to reduce unemployment in the state.
[1] https://www.bls.gov/opub/geographic-profile/