Jobless rate here now at 17.3%

At the Employment Security Commission office in Gaffney, workers are starting to see people who have reached the end of a long road without getting to a destination.

Unemployment benefits typically run for up to 26 weeks, while extension programs can sometimes give those who qualify up to 39 more weeks. Recently, according to the local office's assistant area director, Jane Goode, some people have used up every bit of the help.

"We're still, again, trying to stay positive and upbeat," Goode said. "But it does get discouraging sometimes."

The latest unemployment numbers are anything but positive.

Cherokee County's unemployment rate for May climbed to 17.3 percent and the latest estimates show 4,583 people out of Cherokee County's 26,439-person labor force were unemployed last month. The May unemployment rate represented a jump of half a percentage point from April. Cherokee County has the eighth-worst unemployment rate in South Carolina.

Both the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed in Cherokee County are more than double what they were a year ago.

While the numbers are a little more bleak in other counties, South Carolina as a whole isn't faring much better. The state's unemployment rate climbed to a record high of 12.1 percent in May, once again leaving South Carolina with one of the worst unemployment rates in the nation.

South Carolina did see some job gains in certain sectors, which normally is positive. However, many of the job gains reported by state Employment Security Commission analysts will likely not be long-lasting.

The leisure and hospitality sector gained 7,100 jobs, for instance, while retail trade grew by 1,400 jobs.

And for the first time since July 2008, the construction sector recorded an increase in jobs with 1,200 added during May. But the rise in May construction jobs is far outweighed by the losses that preceded it and analysts can't yet say if this was a blip on the radar screen or an actual upward trend.

The jobs report is sobering because many of the job gains, such as those in leisure and hospitality, are seasonal and can be gone by August as the summer vacation season winds down.

More sobering, traditional family sustaining jobs such as those in manufacturing continued to decline in May. Manufacturers shed another 2,200 positions in South Carolina in May and the sector has shed approximately 29,000 jobs in the past year.

Luckily, Cherokee County has so far been spared any major plant closures but the impacts have been wide ranging.

Goode said the Gaffney Employment Security Commission office has seen many temporary plant shutdowns and layoffs as employers look to weather the current economy. That's led to many partial claims for unemployment compensation.

Goode said she hasn't seen any one specific industry impacted more than others.

Some say the worst might not be over yet.

State labor market analyst Steve McLaughlin said there's some national discussion that the bottom of the recession might be approaching. However, he doesn't believe that can be said for South Carolina.

"Based on what we're seeing in the state at this point in time," he said, "I would say we haven't yet (hit bottom)."

He added, "I think we're still a while away."

In many ways, the Upstate's economy closely mirrors that of Michigan due to its reliance on automobile industry jobs, which have been hard hit. Michigan has the worst unemployment rate in the nation because of problems in that industry.

"What's going to happen with employment in the automobile industry, we're not sure yet," McLaughlin said.

State Sen. Harvey Peeler, the Senate Majority Leader, said on Friday that the woeful unemployment figures require action at the state level.

Peeler recently introduced a bill to provide state incentives for South Carolina employers to hire unemployed workers and on Friday he publicly prodded the state House of Representatives to approve the plan when they reconvene.

"Understanding the dire circumstances many families across the state are facing, the state Senate passed my bipartisan jobs plan with a unanimous vote nearly two months ago," Sen. Peeler said in a prepared statement. "South Carolina's economy has been cut and we are bleeding more jobs every day. My plan was the only one introduced in the General Assembly this year to help stop the bleeding."

Peeler's plan, among other things, would give South Carolina employers who hire an unemployed worker a $100 per-month tax credit per newly hired employee over the next 24 months, beginning July 1, up to a maximum of $2,400 per employee. The bill specifically targets the hiring of those who had been receiving unemployment benefits for at least four weeks.

THE 10 WORST S.C. UNEMPLOYMENT RATES

Here are the 10 worst unemployment rates for May in South Carolina by county and how they changed from April: 1. Allendale 22.1 percent, up 0.6 percentage points 2. Marion 22 percent, up 1.1 percentage points 3. (tie) Chester 21.4 percent, up 0.2 percentage points 3. (tie) Union 21.4 percent, up 1.0 percentage points 5. Marlboro 19.8 percent, down 1.6 percentage 6. Lancaster 18.5 percent, down 0.3 percentage points 7. McCormick 17.6 percent, up 1.3 percentage points 8. Cherokee 17.3 percent, up 0.5 percentage points 9. (tie) Bamberg 17.2 percent, up 1.4 percentage points 9. (tie) Barnwell 17.2 percent, up 1.0 percentage points SOURCE: South Carolina Employment Security Commission