South Carolina Sets Employment Record in 2013

It seems as though 2013 was a strong year for total employment in the state of South Carolina, according to WJBF.com. Data recently released from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) shows that more residents in the state were employed by year’s end than ever before in the history of the state.

In November of 2012, the employment level in South Carolina went above the two million mark and stayed above that mark in all of 2013. The last time employment in South Carolina was above the two million mark was July of 2008.

In December of 2013, the total number of residents employed in the state hit 2,025,887, which is 3,035 more than the previous high in the state of 2,022,852 from November of 2013.

“Having more South Carolinians employed than at any other time in our state’s history didn’t happen by chance – it’s the direct result of Team South Carolina’s strategic effort to recruit and expand businesses in every corner of our state,” said Governor Nikki Haley. “This is a real testament to our ever growing business community and world-class workforce and we couldn’t be more excited to keep these jobs coming in and getting every person in our state back to work.”

Cheryl M. Stanton is the executive director of the state’s DEW. Stanton said, “This is amazing news for South Carolina because it shows that the state’s economy continues to improve and as a result businesses are hiring. We will continue to do our part to develop the state’s workforce to meet our employers’ needs and to get to a point where every South Carolinian who wants to work can.”

An almost two-year period of January 2012 to December 2013 saw an increase in employment by 48,620 people, according to data. The employment data for the month of January is scheduled to be released on March 17th and the data for February will be released on March 28th.