Economic numbers show positive gains for Anderson County

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Anderson County’s economic numbers continue to show positive gains according to a report released Tuesday by the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW). The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) report issued by SCDEW reported Anderson County’s December unemployment rate at 5.5%.

“It’s been more than five years since we’ve seen employment data this good. I’m thankful that we are seeing these numbers—they serve as a testament to the hard work being done by our local economic development team”, said Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn. “I want to thank my fellow Council members for their continued support of our economic development strategy. Because of their encouragement and efforts, we have been able to announce even more economic development projects over the past few weeks which will mean even more jobs for our citizens.”

The positive economic news comes on the heels of an announcement by SC Works and WorkLink that a hiring event will be held on Friday, February 7, 2014 from 9 am to 12 pm at the Tri-County Technical College Anderson Campus. Employers attending include First Quality Tissue, Walgreens, Chomarat, and Sapa.

The SCDEW report showed that 79,341 Anderson residents were employed in December, an increase of more than 500 from November. The number of employed Andersonians has increased by more than 6,000 since January of 2010, when employment reached its recession-era low of 73,220.

The number of residents reported as unemployed in December dropped to 4,610 according to the report. This continues an observed trend of falling numbers of unemployed persons locally. The local unemployment number peaked at 11,578 in February 2010.

Labor force participation increased by almost 250 during December, rising to 83,951. In November, the labor force was measured at 83,711.

The local unemployment rate for November 2013 measured 5.9%. The unemployment rate in December 2012 was reported at 8.0%.

Statewide, the unemployment rate decreased to 6.6% in December from 7.1% in November.