MONEY

SC unemployment hits 15-year low

Amanda Coyne
The Greenville News

South Carolina's unemployment hit a 15-year low in June. The state's unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent from the 5.6 percent the previous month.

That's the lowest it's been since July 2001. The net increase of employed people in the state rose by 109, to 2,185,181 total.

Gov. Nikki Haley praised the numbers as evidence of the state's success.

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"Great things are happening in our state. Thanks to the hard work of our employers, employees and Team South Carolina, we are able to celebrate a 15 year record low unemployment rate - but we aren't finished," Haley said. "Today's announcement is all the motivation we need to stay focused on things like workforce training, tax relief and investments in our students so we can keep the momentum going."

The number of people in the unemployed workforce decreased by "nearly 4,270," to 125,591, according to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, but the labor force decreased by 4,161 people – leaving a total of 2,310,772 employed and unemployed. When the labor force decreases, it means people have stopped looking for work in that market.

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