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Another solid report this morning for South Carolina. The number of people employed in our state is now HIGHER than it was in February 2020, right before the pandemic hit. That’s huge. Additionally, our state’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.5% in June to 4.3% in July. (For reference, the national unemployment last month was 5.4%.)

Numerous factors played a role in this. One of which (without question) is Governor McMaster’s decision to remove South Carolina from the federal unemployment bonuses, which enabled many people to earn more on unemployment than they would have earned by returning to suitable work. I realize there are some people who legitimately cannot return to work for various reasons. But as a general statement, for the good of South Carolina and our economy, that was absolutely the right call.

Employment in our leisure & hospitality industry is still a little behind where it was pre-pandemic. It’s 10% lower now than it was in Feb. 2020. But that’s actually not too bad considering it had been down 46% in the middle of COVID.

It’s a long road, for sure, but things continue to look better & better for South Carolina.