South Carolina employers added an estimated 10,800 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, one of only four states with a statistically significant monthly increase, while the state’s unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September 18 release put payroll employment at 2,426,300, up 0.4 percent from July.
The same federal report showed South Carolina with 38,600 more payroll jobs than in August 2025, a 1.6 percent increase. Louisiana, New Mexico and South Carolina shared the largest percentage gain among states over that period. Nationally, payroll employment rose significantly in just four states during August and was essentially unchanged in the other 46 states and the District of Columbia.
The unemployment figure came from a separate household-based estimate. South Carolina’s seasonally adjusted labor-force table showed the jobless rate at 4.1 percent in August, down from 4.2 percent in July and 4.6 percent a year earlier. The labor force grew by about 2,800 people during the month to 2,675,730, while the number counted as unemployed declined by about 3,400 to 109,048. BLS did not classify the one-month change in the unemployment rate as statistically significant.
The industry detail suggests that the monthly gain was spread unevenly. South Carolina’s leisure and hospitality payrolls rose by 4,000 jobs from July to 291,300, and government payrolls increased by 2,700 to 403,800. Education and health services moved the other way, declining by 700 jobs to 324,100, according to the BLS sector table. Those three categories do not account for every job in the state, but they show that the headline increase was not uniform across the economy.
The state Department of Employment and Workforce highlighted the August labor-force total and decline in the number of unemployed residents in its monthly employment update. For workers and employers, the practical reading is that both major indicators strengthened: establishments reported more payroll positions, while the household measure showed fewer residents without work even as more people entered the labor force.
The two measures should not be treated as interchangeable. BLS explains that unemployment and labor-force figures are modeled largely from a household survey and count people where they live. Payroll totals come from a survey of establishments and count jobs where workplaces are located. A person with two jobs can appear twice in payroll data, while self-employed workers are included in the household measure but generally not the establishment count.
August’s numbers are also preliminary. BLS says state payroll estimates after the current benchmark are revised when additional information becomes available, and the household estimates are subject to their own updating process. The next state report, covering September, is scheduled for October 20. Until then, the strongest supported conclusion is that South Carolina recorded a meaningful August payroll gain alongside a lower headline unemployment rate, with the year-over-year payroll trend remaining among the fastest in the country.
