Economists expect Horry County jobless levels to rise

Though the national unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in July, local economists say South Carolina’s unemployment levels may reach 14 or 15 percent by the end of the year.

That news isn’t encouraging to John Bagli, who has been looking for work since he was laid off form his job at a Georgetown County waste water and sewage company in June.

“Oh, I was sick. I thought I would stay there forever,“ Bagli said.

Bagli says he has applied for more than 100 job openings since he lost his job.

“Right now, I don’t do anything except go out and look for work and stay home and do whatever I can do,” Bagli said.

Bagli is one of the millions of people without a job across the country.

Research Economist Don Schunk warns, though the unemployment numbers fell in July, those figures may be slightly deceiving to people.

“When you dig into the numbers a little bit, part of the reason the national unemployment level fell in July is because a lot of people gave up looking for work and they left the labor force,” Schunk said.

While unemployment has fallen 0.1 percent nationally, Schunk says he expects unemployment will rise across the Carolinas, especially on the Grand Strand over the next few months.

“As we get into September and October, we’re going to see the usual seasonal layoffs, which means around the Grand Strand, when we start seeing reports for September, October, November, the unemployment rate is going to turn around and it’s going to rise pretty sharply i think this coming off-season,” Schunk said.