South Carolina’s Employment Situation January 2013

Unemployment rate up slightly in January; Nearly 27,000 more people working than a year ago

COLUMBIA, SC – March 18, 2013 – The seasonally adjusted unemploymentrate in South Carolina increased slightly from the revised rate of 8.6percent in December 2012 to 8.7 percent in January 2013, mirroring thetrend of the U.S. rate. Nationally, the unemployment rate rose slightlyfrom 7.8 percent in December 2012 to 7.9 percent in January 2013.

In South Carolina, the number of employed persons increased to1,987,765, and unemployed persons numbered 188,496 in January. SinceJanuary 2012, employment has increased 26,840.

Employment by Industry

In terms of industry sectors, the nonagricultural job count (notseasonally adjusted) in the state dropped 33,900 from December 2012 toJanuary 2013, landing at 1,839,400. This decline is a typical trend forthe December-to-January time period due to seasonal layoffs and schoolclosings between terms.

• Only the Information sector saw a gain (+600) in January.
• Industries reporting losses were: Trade, Transportation, andUtilities (-9,600), Government (-8,500), Professional and BusinessServices (-5,300), Leisure and Hospitality (-4,800), Education andHealth Services (-2,600), Construction (-1,300), Financial Activities(-1,200), and Manufacturing (-400).

During 2012, non-farm jobsin the state were up 31,100. These annual gains came from Leisure andHospitality (+9,800); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+6,900);Government (+6,500); Manufacturing (+3,000); Financial Activities(+2,800); and Construction (+2,600). Education and Health Services sawno change over the year while Professional and Business Services(-2,000) and Mining and Logging (-100) dropped.

NOTE:  What does a revised rate mean?

Annually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-estimates labor force datato take advantage of the latest available information related tounemployment claims, nonfarm employment, population changes, and otherdata used in generating the estimates through a process calledbenchmarking. After re-estimation, December’s unemployment rate for 2012 was revised from 8.4 percent to 8.6 percent.