COLUMBIA, S.C. — Seasonally adjusted employment numbers are on the rise according to a report released for South Carolina that looks at job-seekers - and job-finders - from June.
"The economy remains strong with tens of thousands of job postings in the SC Works Online Services database," said Director Dan Ellzey with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.
Overall, the report finds that South Carolina saw an employment increase of nearly 4,300 people with jobs in June bringing the total number to 2,326,257. It's also an increase of more than 56,000 from the previous year.
"While federal payroll figures may show the economy is slowing down nationally, South Carolina Local Area Unemployment Statistics show increases in employment in the household survey," Ellzey said.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment numbers also declined to just over 78,000 - down about 1,000 from May and 19,000 from June of 2021. That's a decrease from 3.3% unemployment in May to 3.2% in June - both of which are under the unchanged 3.6% national average.
"This puts the state within three-tenths of a percentage point of the pre-pandemic figure of 2.9% in February of 2020 and significantly lower than the 11.6% rate in April of 2020," Ellzey said.
The state saw a 3,260 increase in its labor force to more than 2.4 million. That's nearly 37,000 more than June of 2021. The number is the sum of people who are working and those looking for work.