SC Unemployment Rate below US Rate

South Carolina closed out 2013 with a significant drop in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 6.6% in December, down from 7.1% in November. This is the first month since January 2001 that South Carolina’s unemployment rate has been lower than the national rate.  Since December 2012, the unemployment rate has declined two percentage points and the total number of unemployed people declined by 43,493. Locally, Oconee County’s jobless rate fell from 7% in November to 6.6% in December.  Anderson County’s unemployment rate went from 5.9% in November to 5.5% in December.  Pickens County’s jobless rate was 5.5% in November and 5.2% in December. The national unemployment rate for December was estimated at 6.7%.