Area counties saw the largest spike in unemployment across the state for the month of July, placing them among South Carolina's top 10 for joblessness.
Calhoun County saw the largest unemployment rate increase in the state, with its rate increasing 4 percentage points to 16 percent, according to S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce figures released Friday.
The rate shattered a previous record high unemployment rate set in March of last year. The county ranks ninth among the state's 46 counties in unemployment.
Orangeburg County saw the second-largest spike in July, with its rate rising 2.4 percentage points to 17.7 percent. The county ranked fourth in joblessness in the state. The unemployment rate for Orangeburg County is a near record. The county's rate hit 18.4 percent in September 2009.
S.C.’s jobless: 'People around here, they're struggling'
In Orangeburg, nearly 1 in 5 are out of work
South Carolina’s jobless rate jumped to 10.9 percent in July, up nearly half a percentage point over June and the highest it has been all year.But if you’re jobless, particularly for the long-term jobless, the rate is 100 percent and holding — and people are frustrated.“People around here, they’re struggling. People are stealing the manhole covers — it’s just that bad around here now,” said Purvis Richardson, 43, of Orangeburg, leaving the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce office here Friday afternoon with an updated resume in his hand.
“You got people running to these scrapyards, trying to sell anything, man. That’s why you see people tearing up $20,000 air-conditioner units for $50 worth of copper. It’s that bad,” said Richardson, who said he has not worked since 2009, when he lost his job of 10 years at a food-processing plant after “some bad product got out the door” and the blame fell to him.
Orangeburg County’s unemployment rate soared to 17.7 percent last month, according to figures released Friday, catapulting the county from 10th place to 4th place in the state’s unemployment sweepstakes, an honor nobody is trying to win. Only Marlboro, Allendale and Marion counties had higher rates, topping out at 20 percent.
Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/08/20/1939823/jobless-rate-spikes-to-109-percent.html#ixzz1VaCEonBS
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