Unemployment rate decline may be sign of discouraged workers

HARTSVILLE — South Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped for the second month in a row in August, decreasing to 11.5 percent.

The state Employment Security Commission said Friday it had also revised the state’s July rate to 11.7 percent. It had been 11.8 percent, the first decline in more than a year and a half.

Most counties in the Pee Dee saw a small decline in the unemployment rate.

“Right now, traffic flow has lessened,” said Stephen Hampton, area director for the Hartsville Workforce Center. “I think that folks have dropped out of the work force.”

Thankfully, he said, there haven’t been any more layoffs in the area.

“When people have exhausted all their unemployment benefits, some have a tendency to drop out of the labor force,” Hampton said. “And when they stop coming in, we can’t track them.”

In South Carolina, unemployment benefits normally last for 26 weeks or six months. Federal extended benefits can add 13 to 20 weeks to that in certain circumstances.

In September 2008, the center saw 250 to 300 people every day. That trend has tapered off to 4,800 to 5,000 per month over the past few months, Hampton said.

“The good news is it hasn’t gotten any worse,” he said. “We’ve had some success getting people to work too, and job listings have been relatively steady.”

Marion County, ranked third in the state, saw its rate decline from 21.2 to 20.9 percent, 0.3 percentage points, from July.

Marlboro County, ranked fifth, saw the largest drop in the area from 21.6 to 20.4 percent, a 1.3 percentage point drop.

Dillon County, ranked ninth, had an unemployment rate of 17.2 percent in August, while Chesterfield County rounded out the top 10 at 17.1 percent.

Williamsburg County saw a half point decline from 16 to 15.5 percent unemployment. Darlington County dropped from 13.6 to 13.3 percent, and Florence County’s rate fell to 11.5 percent.

Horry County and the Myrtle Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area saw a small rise from 10.3 to 10.5 percent. Statewide, leisure and hospitality jobs were down by 2,700, and construction lost another 2,600 jobs.

The commission said this marks the first time since February 1997 that South Carolina’s construction employment has dipped below 100,000.

The commission said most of the 14,300 jobs the state gained last month were because of schools preparing for the new year.

Total non-agricultural employment is down 78,900 from a year ago.

Nationally, unemployment was 9.7 percent in August.