The September employment report for South Carolina is encouraging, with an increase of 24,800 jobs, but concerns still remain with COVID-19 and also with the pace of job recovery at all workers’ education levels.
Richmond Federal Reserve Bank regional economist Laura Ullrich, based in Charlotte, provided an analysis of the US Department of Labor’s official South Carolina jobs report in a conference call on Tuesday with two state media. , including The Sumter Item.
After losing 272,700 jobs in April since the pandemic began, the state continues its long recovery process, but its recovery has been better than the United States as a whole, Ullrich said.
With the addition of 24,800 jobs in September, about 193,800 jobs were added in five months and the net loss dropped to 78,900, according to the monthly payroll employment survey. This translates into about 71.1% of jobs returning with 28.9% still absent.
Total US earnings do not reach that mark, with around 9 million jobs still missing. In April, the US initially lost 20.5 million jobs.
Job growth in September in South Carolina represented the largest monthly gains in the state since June, when the recovery was in its early stages.
Employment growth occurred in all sectors of the industry during the month, except in the government sector, which lost 2,600 jobs. The sectors highlighted for gains in the past month included professional and business services (+4,900), manufacturing (+3,600) and leisure and hospitality (+8,200).
In a separate research report, South Carolina’s unemployment rate fell from 6.4% in August to 5.1% in September, but Ullrich said this was mainly due to a significant reduction in the state’s workforce, including individuals who are really looking for work.
Locally, Sumter County’s unemployment rate was 5.6%. Clarendon County stood at 5.3% and Lee had the highest unemployment rate in the area, 6.3%.
The national monthly rate was 7.9%. A broader measure of unemployment in the United States to include individuals marginally linked to the workforce, in addition to people who work only part-time for economic reasons, was 12.8%.
Another survey illustrates “irregularities in recovery,” said Ullrich.
Currently, there is a big divide in online job offers based on schooling requirements, she said. The survey shows that posts in the state for candidates with extensive education, including a university degree, have dropped just 1.4% since January and before COVID-19. However, job vacancies for positions that require only the minimum education have dropped 33.1% in the state since January.