BUSINESS

South Carolina Jobs Report: December 2024

Talk is cheap, “Republicans…”

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While South Carolina governor Henry McMaster was delivering his latest ‘State of the State’ address – and being feted by the Columbia swamp as the Palmetto State’s longest-serving governor – his economic legacy was once again taking it on the chin.

And no, I’m not referring to all the fake jobs McMaster’s workforce agency created…

I’m referring to the December 2024 jobs data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which showed the Palmetto State’s anemic labor participation rate dip even further. This historically weak number fell 0.1% from the previous month to 57.5% last month.

That’s half a percentage point above its record low (reached between August and November 2022) but a full five percentage points behind the national average of 62.5%. It is also the third-lowest rate in the nation. Only Mississippi (55.3%) and West Virginia (54.8%) have smaller workforces than South Carolina.

Visually inclined? Our intrepidly amazing research director Jenn Wood has you covered…

If you’re new to our media outlet, we focus extensively on labor participation because it’s the most accurate indicator of a state’s employment situation.

Labor participation tracks the percentage of a state’s population that’s either gainfully employed or actively searching for work. Unlike the widely watched unemployment rate –  which tracks a segment of workers within the labor force – labor participation tracks the size of the workforce itself. That makes it a much better indicator of sustained job creation – or in South Carolina’s case, the lack thereof.

The unemployment rate, a shorter-term indicator, fell from 4.8% to 4.6% last month. That’s still higher than the national average, though, and well above historic lows reached in the spring and summer of 2023.

While “Republican” supermajorities brag about their crony capitalist triumphs, these corporate welfare handouts have not moved the needle in the right direction. In fact, the era of runaway bureaucracy and special interest giveaways has been an abject failure.

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Labor participation in South Carolina began dipping from its peak of 68.5% right around the time the GOP takeover of state government began in the mid-1990s. Labor participation has not eclipsed 60% since May 2012, former governor Nikki Haley’s second full year in office. When Haley left office in January 2017, labor participation in the South Carolina had plunged all the way down to 58.2%.

Like the status quo McMaster, Haley was no “jobs governor.”

As I have often noted, “just to maintain its current (anemic) positioning South Carolina must grow its labor force at the same rate its population is expanding.” In fact, given the extent to which the Palmetto State trails the national average, this rate needs to be expanding faster than the population is growing.

Not only is that not happening … South Carolina keeps moving in reverse.

In the coming weeks, the BLS – which was caught overstating employment under the administration of Joe Biden – will publish seasonal revisions to this data. This means they will “reestimate” these numbers going as far back as 2020 based on updated population information. According to the methodology for these adjustments, the goal is to weed out “periodic fluctuations,” and to make it “easier for users to observe fundamental changes.”

Needless to say we will continue to track this metric closely… as well as the limp-wristed response of the state’s “Republican” leaders to its perpetual decline.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks on phone
Will Folks (Brett Flashnick)

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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1 comment

JamacanMeCrazy January 30, 2025 at 1:38 pm

This Will Folks guy sure does have one hell of a smearmy attitude. It matches his face. He really oughta consider getting into visual media. I could see him playing some uppity yankee on TV.

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