COLUMBIA — Despite 1,000 new jobs in leisure and hospitality jobs, Beaufort and Jasper counties still suffered higher unemployment from June to July, while the state as a whole also suffered — but not as badly.
South Carolina’s unemployment rate grew from 5.3 percent to 5.7 percent. The national unemployment rate edged up slightly from 6.1 percent to 6.2 from June to July.
In Beaufort County, the unemployment rate grew tom 5.6 percent to 6.2, while Jasper County’s rate increased from 5.4 percent to 6.1.
Like the month before, the two counties, which usually enjoy lower jobless rates than South Carolina as a whole, instead saw their rates again exceed the state rate.
In South Carolina, construction jobs grew by 600, as did jobs in trade, transportation and utilities, while financial jobs increased by 400, and government added 100 jobs. The biggest hits, however, occurred in professional and business services, where 3,800 jobs were lost, followed by education and health services, which shed 1,700. One-thousand manufacturing jobs were also contributed to the month that saw every South Carolina county’s jobless rate worsen.
The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce found a silver lining.
“South Carolina has many reasons to remain positive about the economic future for our state despite this month’s slight uptick in the unemployment rate,” said agency head Cheryl Stanton in a statement accompanying the data.
“More than 2 million people are working in South Carolina, just below historic highs reached earlier this year. Over the last year, more than 28,000 people have found work, and the state’s unemployment rate has declined by approximately 2 percentage points.”