SC jobless rate hits 25-year high at 8 percent

the Associated Press
Published: November 21, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina’s jobless rate hit 8 percent in October - the highest in 25 years.  The state Employment Security Commission said Friday that 16,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed in October. The jobless rate last month was up from 7.3 percent in September.  The national rate is 6.5 percent.

Employment Commission executive director Ted Halley says there were 4,100 more jobs in October than in September, but more people were looking for work.
   
Meanwhile, the state fund used to pay unemployment benefits is being depleted by the high numbers of people out of work. The state has received a $15 million loan from the U.S. Labor Department to supplement the remaining $64 million in the unemployment insurance trust fund.

Here are the county-by-county unemployment figures from the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. They do not include the seasonal adjustments used to calculate the statewide unemployment rate. All unemployment numbers are percentages.

Rank County         Oct.      Sept.      Change
1 Allendale           17.0       16.9       0.1
2 Marion             15.8       15.0       0.8
3 Marlboro           15.4       13.8       1.6
4 Bamberg           13.8       13.6       0.2
5 Chester             12.8       12.0       0.8
6 Orangeburg         12.5       12.5       0.0
7 Barnwell             12.4       12.7       -0.3
8 Union               12.3       11.9       0.4
9 Lancaster           12.1       11.9       0.2
10 Dillon               12.0       11.2       0.8
    McCormick         12.0       10.9       1.1
12 Lee                 11.7       9.8       1.9
13 Williamburg         11.5       10.8       0.7
14 Cherokee           11.4       9.8       1.6
    Fairfeild           11.4       11.7       -0.3
16 Clarendon         11.3       10.8       0.5
17 Chesterfeild         11.0       10.5       0.5
18 Hampton           10.2       9.6       0.6
19 Colleton           10.0       9.7       0.3
20 Calhoun             9.5       9.1       0.4
    Darlington           9.5       8.9       0.6
    Sumter             9.5       8.8       0.7
23 Abbeville           9.3       8.7       0.6
24 Oconee             9.1       7.9       1.2
25 Greenwood         9.0       8.4       0.6
26 Georgetown         8.7       7.7       1.0
    Newberry           8.7       8.2       0.5
28 Horry               8.4       6.9       1.5
29 Edgefield           8.3       7.4       0.9
30 Florence           8.2       7.5       0.7
    Kershaw           8.2       6.9       1.3
32 Spartanburg       8.0       7.3       0.7
33 Anderson           7.9       7.1       0.8
34 Laurens           7.8       7.4       0.4
    York               7.8       8.0       -0.2
36 Saluda             7.3       6.3       1.0
37 Berkeley           7.1       6.6       0.5
    Pickens           7.1       6.4       0.7
    Richland         7.1       6.6       0.5
40 Aiken             7.0       6.5       0.5
41 Jasper             6.9       6.2       0.7
42 Dorchester         6.8       6.2       0.6
43 Greenville         6.6       6.0       0.6
44 Charleston         6.2       5.6       0.6
45 Beaufort           6.0       5.3       0.7
46 Lexington         5.9       5.2       0.7
   
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)