SC unemployment rate holds steady, 100K+ jobs open

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina employment officials say the state’s unemployment rate held steady from January to February.

The latest data released Friday by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce shows the state’s unemployment rate held at 3.5%.

“However, while we have 46,353 more employees working in February 2022 than there were in February 2020, employer demand is still high,” SCDEW Executive Director Dan Ellzey said. “We currently have more than 112,000 job postings in SC Works Online Services, which is approximately 41,000 more postings than there were prior to the pandemic.”

For February, the state’s labor force is up to 2.38 million, nearly 62,000 more than the pre-pandemic February 2020 total.

But Ellzey said the state’s February 2022 labor participation rate of 57.2% is slightly lower than February 2020′s 57.4%.