Job gains continue to push down SC jobless rate

South Carolina continues to add jobs, pushing down the state’s jobless rate for a sixth consecutive month in November.

The state jobless rate slid to 5.5 percent in November, falling from 6.8 percent in May, the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce reported Friday.

The U.S. jobless rate in November was 5 percent.

South Carolina’s latest unemployment reading is a 14-year low.

The state added 68,300 jobs in the first 11 months of the year, a record for data going back to 1976.

The 9,147 jobs added in November was the third-highest monthly total in South Carolina over the past 39 years.

The state’s six best job-creation months have come during 2015, the second year since South Carolina returned to pre-recession employment levels.

Unemployment rolls also have shrunk. The number of jobless South Carolinians has dropped by 23,150 during 2015 – more than three times last year’s total.

Meanwhile, the labor force – those working or looking for work and a sign of a healthy job market – has risen by more than 45,000 since January.

The biggest job gains last month came from the same fields that have bolstered much of the state’s job market over the past year – business services, construction, education, health and hospitality.

In Columbia, non-farm jobs in November rose by 1,900 over October and by 11,500 compared with a year earlier when adjusted for seasonal shifts.

South Carolina’s economy could improve next year with an influx of money from federal aid and insurance claims after the October flood, University of South Carolina economists forecast this week.

However, economists expect the unemployment rate to rise to an average of 6 percent next year as more would-be workers look for jobs.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 2:47 PM.