February sees good increase in labor participation rate in South Carolina

South Carolina saw its workforce expand during the month of February, however, the state of Palmetto is still lagging behind the rest of the country in this critical employment metric. As was the case last month, only three states in America had a lower job participation rate than South Carolina – reinforce the measure in which the leaders of the General Assembly of SC must take immediate measures to increase the competitiveness of the state.

Especially for small businesses with difficulties …

Are they doing this? No way … In fact, the last time I checked, they were pursuing the same failed policies of great government / crony capitalist of the past.

Fortunately, a bad situation has not worsened in the past month, as the rate of participation in the work of the State of Palmetto has increased 0.3 percentage points to reach 57 percent – its highest reading since last fall, according to the most recent data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Nationally, participation in the work was 61.4 percent during February – unchanged from the previous month. Only three states – Kentucky (56.7 percent), Mississippi (56.1 percent) and West Virginia (55.3 percent) had worse readings than South Carolina

Readers will remember that job participation data was “seasonally adjusted” last month, leading to a revised increase. The measure is now up 0.8 percentage points record low 56.2 percent in April 2020.

For those of you who score points at home, a total of 2,377,298 South Carolinians were part of the workforce in February – an increase of 16,312 January people. Meanwhile, the state’s working age population has increased by 4,304 people – for 4,163,639.

Why does this means of communication accompany labor participation as opposed to the widely observed unemployment rate? Well, unlike the last indicator – which tracks only one segment of workers inside of the workforce – the rate of participation in work accompanies the size of the workforce itself. This makes it a much more accurate indicator of the extent to which people have paid jobs … or not.

For those of you who care about the unemployment rate, a tenth of a percentage point fell to 5.2 percent in February.

While you may not know this from watching the latest machinations of the “Republican-controlled” SC General Assembly, economic issues are at the forefront of voter concerns in Palmetto State … and with good reason.

Earlier this week, I published a column highlighting some worrying data from Alignable, a small business referral network. According to their numbers, 41 percent small businesses had a month or less of cash reserves on hand and 49 percent they could not pay the March rent on time and in full.

Those are some frighteningly small margins … highlighting the extent to which a sustained and targeted tax reduction (and not one-off donations) is needed.

I also argued that state leaders should take steps to diversify South Carolina’s battered tourist economy – and reduce the size, scope and cost of its undisciplined and irresponsible state government.

Real market-based responsibility in education must also be a priority …

Unfortunately, the left-wing GOP in Columbia, SC, is not listening … but then again, they haven’t heard in years.

That is why we are seeing a constant erosion of competitiveness … and why our workforce is shrinking as a result.

Under the former governor Nikki Haley, labor participation in South Carolina peaked in 60.3 percent between May and September 2011 – but remained well behind the national rate (which varied between 64 percent and 64.2 percent during this period). In May 2012, the rate fell below 60 percent – and has remained below this fundamental line of demarcation ever since.

In contrast, participation in work has reached levels as high as 68.5 percent during the early 1990s – right at the time when the so-called “republicans” were taking control of the state government.

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