SC unemployment amount ties almanac aerial in January

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina's unemployment amount angry its almanac aerial in January at 12.6 percent, and abandoned numbers went up in all of the state's 46 counties, according to abstracts appear Wednesday.

The Employment Security Agency additionally revised December's amount bottomward hardly to 12.4 percent. That month's unemployment was originally abstinent at 12.6 percent, a accompaniment almanac aerial South Carolina akin in January.

The state's abandoned amount was able-bodied aloft the civic rate, which biconcave to 9.7 percent in January. Nationally, South Carolina's unemployment amount ranked fourth abaft Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island.

The cardinal of South Carolina's unemployed rose about 4,600 to added than 273,000 people, additionally ambience a accompaniment almanac high. As acting workers were appear afterwards the anniversary arcade season, the retail area cut 7,700 positions in January.

Manufacturing showed little change from December, although that area has absent added than 20,000 jobs in the accompaniment over the aftermost year.

Allendale and Marion counties angry for the state's accomplished rate, at 24.3 percent. Unemployment was everyman in Lexington County, at 9.4 percent.

Economists said aftermost ages the state's chronically aerial unemployment amount could top 13 percent afore it starts to improve.

State assembly accept been answer affairs to put South Carolina's problem-plagued abandoned allowances bureau beneath the governor's control. Aftermost month, the Senate gave final approval to an check of the Employment Security Commission, putting the bureau into Gov. Mark Sanford's Cabinet, renaming it the Workforce Department and acceptance the governor to accredit the director. The House and Senate accept yet to accede on a final version.

On Wednesday, a adviser was conference a Senate board on what the restructuring could cost.

As allotment of that debate, legislators discussed a accompaniment analysis showed that the Agency didn't pay the government the assets tax it withheld from abandoned allowances for months aftermost year and faced about $1 actor in penalties.

The crime brought a $900,000 accompaniment amends additional $50,000 in interest. The accompaniment Revenue Department forgave the $900,000 burden and bisected the interest, but appropriate the agency to pay $25,000 in interest.