by
Dorothy Weaver | Dec 16, 2016
For Immediate Release
South Carolina’s Employment Situation
November 2016
Employment Exceeds 2.2 Million for the First Time
South Carolina’s employment level in November surpassed 2.2 million people for the first time in state history, as the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent from 4.7 percent in October.
November’s unemployment rate is the lowest in nearly 16 years. November’s decrease marks the seventh consecutive month the unemployment rate has dropped.
Employment increased by 7,528 in November to a record level of 2,200,101, while the number of unemployed declined by 6,275 to 102,075, the lowest level since June 2001. This resulted in an increase in the labor force of 1,253 to 2,302,176.
Since November 2015, the number of employed has increased 63,450, and the labor force has increased by 41,366. The number of unemployed fell by 22,084.
Nationally, the November jobless rate decreased to 4.6 percent from 4.9 percent in October.
Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Seasonally Adjusted1)
November’s seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll level increased by 12,500 from October to a level of 2,070,800.
Industries recording increases were Professional and Business Services (+3,600); Construction (+2,500); Leisure and Hospitality (+2,400); Manufacturing (+2,100); Government (+1,300); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+600); Education and Health Services (+600); and Information (+400). Other Services remained unchanged, while Financial Activities (-1,000) declined.
Compared to a year ago, seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs were up 45,300. Growth was noted in Professional and Business Services (+13,200); Education and Health Services (+8,700); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+6,000); Manufacturing (+5,400); Construction (+4,900); Leisure and Hospitality (+3,700); Government (+2,300); and Financial Activities (+1.400). Reporting declines were Information (-500) and Other Services (-100).
Nonfarm Employment by Industry (Not Seasonally Adjusted2)
The not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll employment in November reported an over-the-month increase of 13,200 to a level of 2,080,200. Trade, Transportation, and Utilities rose by 6,000 jobs.
Professional and Business Services (+3,100); Manufacturing (+2,400); Government (+2,300); Construction (+800); Education and Health Services (+500); Other Services (+400); and Information (+300), while Mining and Logging remained firm.
Nonfarm employment loss occurred in the Leisure and Hospitality (-1,600) and Financial Activities (-1,000) sectors.
In comparison to previous year, not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm jobs were up 45,400 overall. Over-the-year growth was recorded in Professional and Business Services (+13,400); Education and Health Services (+8,800); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+6,000); Manufacturing (+5,400); Construction (+4,800); Leisure and Hospitality (+3,700); Government (+2,200); Financial Activities (+1,400); and Mining and Logging (+300). Information (-500) and Other Services (-100) saw marginal declines.
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1. Seasonally 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.
2. Not Seasonally Adjusted: Effects of regular or seasonal patterns have not been removed from these data.
