SC has largest one-month increase in employment growth

South Carolina experienced the largest one-month increase in the number of people working during the month of in February.

Employment climbed by 10,645, bringing the total employed for February to 2,219,833 people. The state’s labor force, which rose for the second consecutive month, increased by 12,380 to 2,323,023 people, and the majority of those entering the workforce found jobs.

Since February 2016, South Carolina employment gained 48,846 people, and the level of unemployed has decreased by 20,902.

Nationally, February’s unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent in January.

Job gains were reported in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (plus-2,100); Manufacturing (plus-1,500); and Professional and Business Services (plus-1,400).

Also

▪ Lash Group is beginning construction of a second building and a parking deck at their Fort Mill campus at Kingsley, according to Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage. The patient support services company already occupies a five-story, 250,000-square-foot building in Kingsley, which houses around 1,200 workers. Officials indicated at a grand opening in April 2016 that they planned to double the workforce by 2020. The campus is located at the S.C. Highway 160 interchange of I-77 in Fort Mill.

▪ OK Foods, Inc., based in Oklahoma City, Okla., is recalling approximately 933,272 pounds of breaded chicken products that might be contaminated with extraneous materials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced. The ready-to-eat products, which might be contaminated with metal, were produced between Dec. 19, 2016 and March 7, 2017. The problem was discovered earlier this week after OK Foods, Inc., received five complaints about metal objects in the products. An internal investigation determined metal fragments came from its conveyor belting.

STAFF, WIRE REPORTS

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 2:36 PM with the headline "SC has largest one-month increase in employment growth."