COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina’s jobless rate has fallen for the seventh consecutive month.
The Department of Employment and Workforce said Friday that South Carolina’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in November, down from 4.7 percent in October.
The agency says the number of South Carolinians working rose to a new high of 2.2 million. The number of unemployed people who are looking for work declined to about 102,000, the lowest level since June 2001.
The U.S. Labor Department again ranks South Carolina as having the 22nd lowest jobless rate in the country.
The national unemployment rate is falling while North Carolina’s jobless rate keeps rising to 5 percent.
Data released Friday by the state Commerce Department show North Carolina’s jobless rate rose in November by a tenth of a percentage point from October.
That’s the fourth straight month of worsening for the key state economic indicator. The national unemployment rate is 4.6 percent after falling for the past three months.
About 21,000 additional North Carolina workers were on the job in November than the previous month, and nearly 130,000 more than the same month a year ago.
There are also more people looking for work. More than 27,000 people were either working or job-hunting in November compared to October, and 103,000 people have joined the labor force in the past year.
