May 2020 Press Release Final - 1612939353
May 2020 Press Release Final - 1612939353
May 2020 Press Release Final - 1612939353
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact:
Heather Biance
I. Household Survey1
Employment: The seasonally adjusted monthly survey of households estimated the number of South
Carolinians working increased to 2,118,575.
That is a decrease of 142 people since April 2020 and a significant increase of 229,360 over May
2019.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 12.5 percent in May from April’s
revised estimate of 12.8 percent.
Nationally, the unemployment rate declined from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent in May, thus
reflecting the continued effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the household survey data.
Labor force: The state’s estimated labor force (people working plus unemployed people looking for work)
increased to 2,421,793.
The Current Employment Survey of businesses in South Carolina marked an increase of 67,600 nonfarm
payroll jobs over the month to a level of 1,989,400.
Industries reporting gains were Leisure and Hospitality (+36,300); Trade, Transportation, and
Utilities (+10,600); Education and Health Services (+8,700); Professional and Business Services
(+5,600); Construction (+3,900); Other Services (+3,800); Manufacturing (+2,600); and
Financial Activities (+2,400).
Decreases were noticed in the Government (-6,200) and Information (-100) industries.
From May 2019 to May 2020, South Carolina’s economy has lost 193,000 seasonally adjusted nonfarm
jobs.
Construction was the only industry to report a gain (+300) over the year.
Decreases were reported in Leisure and Hospitality (-92,800); Professional and Business
Services (-27,300); Education and Health Services (-20,300); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
(-20,000); Government (-14,000); Manufacturing (-10,700); Other Services (-5,400); Financial
Activities (-2,000); and Information (-600).
Not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 75,500 from April 2020 to May
2020 for a total of 2,005,600.
Industries reporting growth during this period were Leisure and Hospitality (+41,300); Trade,
Transportation, and Utilities (+12,200); Education and Health Services (+8,100); Professional
and Business Services (+6,400); Construction (+4,300); Other Services (+4,000); Manufacturing
(+3,200); and Financial Activities (+3,100).
Industries reporting declines were Government (-6,900) and Information (-200).
Mining and Logging remained flat.
Since May 2019, not seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs were down 194,000, overall, in South Carolina.
Construction was the only industry to show an annual gain (+300).
Industries recording an over-the-year loss are Leisure and Hospitality (-93,800); Professional and
Business Services (-25,700); Education and Health Services (-21,100); Trade, Transportation,
and Utilities (-19,800); Government (-14,200); Manufacturing (-10,500); Other Services
(-5,400); Financial Activities (-2,400); Information (-1,200); and Mining and Logging (-200).
Note: Employment estimates have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Sum of detail may not equal totals due to rounding or the exclusion of certain
industries from publication. All data are subject to revision.
Note: Employment estimates have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Sum of detail may not equal totals due to rounding or the exclusion of certain
industries from publication. All data are subject to revision.
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
LOCAL AREA UNEMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES BY COUNTY, MSA, AND STATE
(NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED)
Horry County ↓ 151,121 122,977 28,144 18.6 146,260 113,297 32,963 22.5 151,028 146,195 4,833 3.2
Marlboro County ↓ 9,836 8,143 1,693 17.2 9,553 7,885 1,668 17.5 9,143 8,763 380 4.2
Union County ↓ 12,489 10,425 2,064 16.5 12,675 10,355 2,320 18.3 11,649 11,259 390 3.3
Chester County ↑ 13,981 11,723 2,258 16.2 13,484 11,531 1,953 14.5 13,379 12,862 517 3.9
Cherokee County ↓ 26,940 22,820 4,120 15.3 26,741 22,334 4,407 16.5 25,139 24,400 739 2.9
Orangeburg County ↑ 36,850 31,505 5,345 14.5 35,128 30,461 4,667 13.3 34,808 33,376 1,432 4.1
Spartanburg County ↓ 161,797 138,297 23,500 14.5 161,761 137,456 24,305 15.0 153,077 149,286 3,791 2.5
Laurens County ↑ 31,916 27,313 4,603 14.4 31,214 26,813 4,401 14.1 30,265 29,392 873 2.9
Abbeville County ↑ 10,397 8,937 1,460 14.0 10,097 8,703 1,394 13.8 10,063 9,750 313 3.1
Georgetown County ↓ 26,879 23,213 3,666 13.6 26,097 22,157 3,940 15.1 26,337 25,460 877 3.3
Lancaster County ↑ 41,881 36,282 5,599 13.4 40,953 35,708 5,245 12.8 41,173 39,866 1,307 3.2
Fairfield County ↑ 10,107 8,762 1,345 13.3 9,640 8,530 1,110 11.5 9,587 9,195 392 4.1
Bamberg County ↑ 5,101 4,430 671 13.2 4,804 4,247 557 11.6 5,059 4,800 259 5.1
Charleston County − 215,113 186,865 28,248 13.1 211,096 183,515 27,581 13.1 212,703 207,919 4,784 2.2
Allendale County ↑ 2,714 2,361 353 13.0 2,577 2,245 332 12.9 2,736 2,604 132 4.8
Williamsburg County ↑ 12,412 10,819 1,593 12.8 11,908 10,467 1,441 12.1 12,184 11,699 485 4.0
Lee County ↑ 6,910 6,040 870 12.6 6,657 5,856 801 12.0 6,579 6,347 232 3.5
York County ↑ 141,445 123,700 17,745 12.5 138,502 121,985 16,517 11.9 139,825 136,106 3,719 2.7
Anderson County ↓ 94,317 82,584 11,733 12.4 92,951 81,268 11,683 12.6 91,292 88,883 2,409 2.6
Greenville County ↑ 263,692 231,234 32,458 12.3 259,495 227,709 31,786 12.2 255,031 248,920 6,111 2.4
Marion County ↑ 13,062 11,490 1,572 12.0 12,522 11,035 1,487 11.9 13,165 12,665 500 3.8
Dorchester County ↑ 77,984 68,888 9,096 11.7 76,292 67,737 8,555 11.2 78,487 76,563 1,924 2.5
McCormick County ↑ 3,408 3,010 398 11.7 3,314 2,929 385 11.6 3,403 3,311 92 2.7
Greenwood County ↑ 31,685 28,072 3,613 11.4 30,720 27,289 3,431 11.2 31,492 30,540 952 3.0
Beaufort County ↓ 79,317 70,359 8,958 11.3 75,837 66,770 9,067 12.0 78,297 76,246 2,051 2.6
Clarendon County − 13,127 11,640 1,487 11.3 12,671 11,235 1,436 11.3 12,952 12,481 471 3.6
Oconee County ↓ 36,091 32,014 4,077 11.3 35,317 31,079 4,238 12.0 35,142 34,195 947 2.7
Sumter County ↑ 45,687 40,591 5,096 11.2 45,137 40,167 4,970 11.0 43,736 42,343 1,393 3.2
Berkeley County ↑ 103,065 91,614 11,451 11.1 101,035 90,144 10,891 10.8 104,410 101,831 2,579 2.5
Pickens County ↑ 58,385 51,903 6,482 11.1 57,407 51,094 6,313 11.0 57,511 55,921 1,590 2.8
Barnwell County ↑ 8,113 7,224 889 11.0 7,814 7,010 804 10.3 8,310 7,975 335 4.0
Darlington County ↑ 31,333 27,916 3,417 10.9 30,403 27,329 3,074 10.1 30,620 29,624 996 3.3
Calhoun County ↑ 6,780 6,083 697 10.3 6,454 5,903 551 8.5 6,600 6,386 214 3.2
Chesterfield County ↓ 22,308 20,001 2,307 10.3 21,754 19,379 2,375 10.9 22,389 21,789 600 2.7
Edgefield County ↓ 11,121 9,990 1,131 10.2 10,892 9,754 1,138 10.4 10,825 10,529 296 2.7
Richland County ↑ 204,042 183,266 20,776 10.2 197,151 179,502 17,649 9.0 197,929 192,519 5,410 2.7
Aiken County ↑ 76,926 69,214 7,712 10.0 75,678 68,149 7,529 9.9 75,187 73,008 2,179 2.9
Kershaw County ↑ 30,011 27,079 2,932 9.8 29,055 26,376 2,679 9.2 29,229 28,423 806 2.8
Colleton County ↑ 16,802 15,176 1,626 9.7 16,181 14,717 1,464 9.0 16,933 16,426 507 3.0
Jasper County ↑ 12,713 11,485 1,228 9.7 12,008 10,862 1,146 9.5 12,822 12,503 319 2.5
Dillon County ↑ 13,348 12,092 1,256 9.4 12,789 11,630 1,159 9.1 13,058 12,574 484 3.7
Florence County ↑ 67,633 61,326 6,307 9.3 65,889 60,272 5,617 8.5 67,211 65,322 1,889 2.8
Newberry County ↓ 19,259 17,602 1,657 8.6 18,542 16,908 1,634 8.8 19,445 18,957 488 2.5
Lexington County ↑ 151,735 139,349 12,386 8.2 147,193 136,019 11,174 7.6 149,887 146,427 3,460 2.3
Hampton County ↑ 8,386 7,756 630 7.5 7,942 7,368 574 7.2 8,569 8,350 219 2.6
Saluda County ↑ 9,139 8,471 668 7.3 8,687 8,073 614 7.1 9,063 8,832 231 2.5
Charleston -
North Charleston MSA
↑ 396,162 347,367 48,795 12.3 388,423 341,396 47,027 12.1 395,600 386,313 9,287 2.3
Columbia MSA ↑ 411,814 373,010 38,804 9.4 398,180 364,403 33,777 8.5 402,295 391,782 10,513 2.6
Florence MSA ↑ 98,966 89,242 9,724 9.8 96,292 87,601 8,691 9.0 97,831 94,946 2,885 2.9
Greenville -Anderson-
Mauldin MSA
− 448,310 393,034 55,276 12.3 441,067 386,884 54,183 12.3 434,099 423,116 10,983 2.5
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED
South Carolina ↓ 2,421,793 2,118,575 303,218 12.5 2,376,830 2,073,470 303,360 12.8 2,371,610 2,297,752 73,858 3.1
Current month's estimates are preliminary. All data are subjest to revision ↑ Unemployment Rate Up
↓ Unemployment Rate Down
− Unemployment Rate =