South Carolina’s unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in August as employers added 10,800 payroll jobs, one of only four statistically significant state-level monthly employment gains recorded nationwide.
The rate declined from 4.2% in July and has fallen for five consecutive months from 4.9% in March. The state’s labor force grew to about 2.676 million people while employment rose to roughly 2.567 million, leaving 109,000 residents counted as unemployed, according to the latest federal data.
South Carolina payrolls reached 2,426,300 in August, up 0.4% from July and 1.6% from a year earlier. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ national release said the state tied Louisiana and New Mexico for the fastest percentage payroll growth over the year. South Carolina’s 38,600-job annual gain was also large enough to be statistically significant.
The broad numbers show momentum, but growth was uneven across industries. Construction employment was 3.9% higher than a year earlier, leisure and hospitality rose 3.7%, and education and health services increased 2.5%. Manufacturing, a central part of the state economy, grew 1.4% to 266,000 jobs.
Government payrolls increased 1.5% to 403,800, while financial activities rose 1.1% to 123,700. Together, those gains helped broaden the expansion beyond tourism and building trades, even though no single industry accounts for the full statewide increase.
Information employment moved in the opposite direction, falling 8.4% over the year to 25,100 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities — the state’s largest listed private-sector group — grew only 0.4%, while professional and business services rose 0.8%. Those differences matter because a strong statewide total can coexist with job losses or slower hiring in particular fields.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce published the state’s August report on Sept. 18. The figures are seasonally adjusted to reduce normal calendar effects, and the August estimates remain preliminary. They can be revised as agencies receive more complete survey and administrative records.
The unemployment rate and payroll count also come from different statistical systems. The rate is derived largely from a household survey and classifies people by where they live. Payroll employment comes from an employer survey and counts jobs where establishments are located. A worker with two jobs can appear twice in payroll data, while self-employed workers are not counted the same way.
For context, the national unemployment rate was also 4.1% in August. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis historical data show South Carolina’s rate was 4.8% in April, 4.6% in May, 4.4% in June and 4.2% in July before reaching August’s level.
The practical reading is a labor market improving in aggregate rather than uniformly. Fewer residents were unemployed, the labor force continued to expand, and payroll growth outpaced most states. Yet the sharp information-sector decline and modest growth in several large industries leave a more mixed picture beneath the headline totals.
