September Shows Drop In Number Of SC Working

Data released this week from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) for the month of September saw a drop in the total number of South Carolinians working by 1,287 people over the August 2024 estimate, for a total of 2,413,337 workers. However, 18,921 more South Carolinians are employed today relative to this time last year, showing that the state is continuing to experience positive employment growth in a wide variety of sectors, including Construction; Retail Trade; Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities; and Wholesale Trade.

South Carolina’s labor force participation, people who are working plus those who are unemployed and looking for work, increased to 2,527,319 while the labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 57.6%. This figure marks increases of 4,804 and 60,098 people over the August 2024, and September 2023 data respectively.

Lastly, the estimate of unemployed people in South Carolina increased to 113,982 which includes a significant increase of 6,091 over the August 2024 estimate and an increase of 41,177 over the past year. Consequently, the state’s unemployment rate increased from 4.3% to 4.5% while the national unemployment rate decreased to 4.1%

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