South Carolina's jobless rate to 9.1%

  • John McDermott
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  • Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 9:13 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 30, 2012 2:29 p.m.
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Jack Frawley, who served two tours of duty with the Marine Corps in Iraq, attends a job fair for veterans, Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits dropped last week, the latest evidence that the job market is strengthening. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

South Carolina's unemployment rate fell for the seventh straight month in February, edging down to 9.1 percent, new figures show.

The January rate was 9.3 percent, the state Department of Workforce and Employment said today.

With an increase of 9,864 employed people driving the decline, South Carolina experienced its third largest month-to-month gain in employment since 1976, the agency said.

Since February 2011, the state has seen an overall increase of 28,000 jobs.

The biggest gainer last month was in education as schools completed staffing for the spring semester.

Three industrial sectors had healthy increases: professional and business services added 3,900 jobs; health care and social assistance added 3,200; and leisure and hospitality grew by 2,700 positions.

Manufacturing added 300 jobs, extending its growth trend.

Nationally, the unemployment rate remained flat at 8.3 percent in February.

For the greater Charleston region, the jobless figure rose slightly to 7.8 percent from 7.6 percent.

See Saturday's editions of The Post and Courier for more details.

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