Local Unemployment Rate Registers Slight Decrease in August

Greenville County saw its unemployment rate dip in August, the state's Department of Employment and Workforce reported Friday.

The county's jobless dropped slightly to 7.6 percent, from 7.9 percent in July, DEW reported. That's the second-lowest jobless rate in the state. Overall, the state's jobless rate was pegged at 9.6 percent, from 9.7 percent in July.

Yet again, Lexington County had the state's lowest jobless rate in August, at 7.2 percent. Marion County, in the state's Pee Dee region, had the highest, at 17.3 percent.

Greenville and Lexington and a handful of other counties were among the bright spots in DEW's report. All told, 26 of the state's 46 counties recorded double-digit unemployment, according to DEW.

“While I recognize there is more work to be done, today’s unemployment rate announcement shows me that South Carolina is on the road to economic recovery. We saw healthy gains in the Private Sector as the Education and Health Services, Financial Activities, Construction, and Information sectors all registered increases,” Abraham J. Turner, DEW's executive director, said in a press release.

Nationally, the unemployment rate decreased from 8.3 percent in July to 8.1 percent in August, primarily driven by fewer people participating in the labor. Similarly, in South Carolina, DEW reported that the state's labor-force participation rate (58.4) "is the lowest since 1976 (oldest data available) and is reflective of more people choosing not to participate in the labor force than ever before."