HOUSEHOLD SURVEY: LOCAL AREA UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
Nationally, there is a monthly Current Population Survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine employment status of the civilian population. This information, along with other inputs, are used by DEW to operate the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program, which estimates the number of individuals employed and those not employed, but actively seeking employment for statewide and a variety of substate geographies.
Employment:
- The seasonally adjusted number of South Carolina workers increased to 2,439,684.
- That is an increase of 2,668 people over the December 2024 estimate.
- That is an increase of 19,332 people over the January 2024 estimate.
Labor Force:
- The state’s estimated labor force (people working plus unemployed people looking for work) decreased to 2,549,034 while the labor force participation rate decreased to 57.6 percent.
- That is a decrease of 619 people over the December 2024 estimate.
- That is an increase of 42,708 individuals over the January 2024 estimate.
Unemployed:
- The estimate of unemployed people decreased to 109,350.
- That is a decrease of 3,287 people from the December estimate and a significant increase of 23,376 from the January 2024 estimate.
- The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 4.4 percent to 4.3 percent. The national unemployment rate decreased to 4.0 percent, according to the Current Population survey.
Seasonally Adjusted: Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a 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.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY COUNTY (NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED)
EMPLOYER SURVEY: CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
BLS conducts a monthly Current Employment Statistics survey of approximately 119,000 businesses and government agencies which yields national estimates of nonagricultural wage and salary employment, hours, and earnings by industry. These data are processed by DEW to generate comparable data for the state and its metropolitan statistical areas.
NONAGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY (SEASONALLY ADJUSTED)
The monthly survey of businesses in South Carolina marked an estimated increase of 4,500 nonfarm payroll jobs over the month to a level of 2,388,200.
NONAGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT BY METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA (SEASONALLY ADJUSTED)
The monthly survey of businesses in South Carolina marked an estimated increase of 4,500 nonfarm payroll jobs over the month to a level of 2,388,200.
Seasonally Adjusted: Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a 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.
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