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As South Carolina “Republican” leaders face intense backlash following the introduction of a controversial tax “reform” proposal, the need for real tax relief was laid bare by the latest state employment figures.
According to data (.pdf) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), labor participation in the Palmetto State stood at just 57.6% during February 2025 – an anemic number which was unchanged from the previous month (and just 0.3% above record lows recorded between August and October 2022).
Once again, only Mississippi (56%) and West Virginia (54.4%) fared worse than South Carolina on this critical employment metric.
For those of you interested in the steadily declining trend lines, here’s a visual aid courtesy of our intrepid research director Jenn Wood:
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For those of you new to FITSNews, we have focused on labor participation intently over the years. Why? Because we believe it to be the most accurate indicator of a state’s true employment situation. Labor participation tracks the percentage of a state’s population that is 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.
For those of you who care about the unemployment rate, it edged down 0.1% in February from 4.3% to 4.2% – but it remains 0.7% higher than where it was a year ago.
Labor participation in South Carolina began falling from its peak of 68.5% right around the time the GOP takeover of state government began in the mid-1990s. It has not eclipsed the key 60% demarcation line since May 2012, former governor Nikki Haley’s second full year in office. When Haley left office in January 2017, labor participation in the Palmetto State had plunged all the way down to 58.2%.
So much for Haley claiming to be South Carolina’s “jobs governor” – although in fairness to her, the onus for these numbers falls most squarely on the all-powerful legislative branch of government (a.k.a. “King Columbia”).
Lawmakers dictate tax and spending policy – while controlling crony capitalist outlays and directing the excesses of the bureaucratic-regulatory state.
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RELATED | FREEDOM CAUCUS BLASTS TAX BILL
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Politicians, bureaucrats and their apologists have attributed South Carolina’s historic decline exclusively to our aging population. In fact, in December 2022 the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) commissioned a report which purported to explain away the issue.
“One of the primary takeaways from (the) report was how central South Carolina’s aging population is to this issue,” agency economist Erica Von Nessen stated. “Between 1994 and 2019, the share of our state’s population age 65 or older nearly doubled. This fact alone explains most of the decline in South Carolina’s labor force participation rate in that time.”
Does it, though? According to 2023 Census data, the Palmetto State’s senior population (i.e. the percentage of its citizens over the age of 65) stood at 19.3%. That tied South Carolina for 13th nationally – whereas three years earlier its senior population was the tenth-largest in the country.
Worth noting? With the lone exception of West Virginia, every single state with a larger senior population than South Carolina had a higher labor participation rate – and several of these states had rates which increased during the same period South Carolina’s was falling off the map.
Curiously, “Republican” leaders insist they can make the Palmetto State more economically competitive by raising taxes on 60 percent of filers – nearly all of them middle income earners.
In what universe does that make sense?
Count on FITSNews to continue to hold the so-called GOP “supermajority” accountable for its ongoing failure to move the needle on our bottom-dwelling employment situation.
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THE REPORT…
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
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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