A state labor analyst had to reach a little when asked if there were any bright spots in the latest unemployment report.

"The only thing we've noticed," said Employment Security Commission labor analyst Sam McClary, "our rate for the last two or three months has been somewhat flat."

He added, "In other words, we haven't seen the rapid increases we did earlier in the year."

But that was as good a comment as McClary could provide. "No, not yet," he replied when asked if the faltering economy had hit bottom. "I think we still have some increase in the jobless rate to go," McClary said.

While South Carolina's overall unemployment rate remained virtually unchanged from May (12 percent) to June (12.1 percent), Cherokee County's unemployment rate continued to climb last month. An estimated 17.6 percent of Cherokee County's workforce was unemployed in June, an increase of four tenths of a percentage point from the revised May rate of 17.2 percent.

At the Employment Security Commission Office in Gaffney, assistant area director Jane Goode concedes the situation has been a little discouraging, though there are hopes that a turnaround is on the horizon.

"Our jobs have picked up a little bit," Goode said, "which is some good news."

Currently, Goode said the office has about 98 job postings, which is down from the more than 200 or so postings average when economic times are better, but up significantly compared to recent job posting counts, which had dipped to as low as 50.

Overall activity at the local Employment Security Commission Office remains brisk, but luckily not because of permanent plant or business shutdowns. Goode said the office is continuing to see a lot of partial claims for unemployment assistance due to temporary closures and work slowdowns.

"We're trying to be upbeat about it," Goode said.

While some relative stability in the state's unemployment rate could be a sign that the economic downturn may be approaching bottom, no one can say yet when that will occur.

"The key will be what happens in the fall when the tourist season is over," McClary said. "We're already beginning to see leisure and hospitality (jobs) sort of peak out."

Leisure and hospitality jobs generally are seasonal in nature but account for a large chunk of South Carolina's employment rolls. Such jobs will hit their peak in the July jobs data and then decline as schools return back to session and the summer vacation season comes to a close.

Overall, the total number of jobs in South Carolina is down by about 93,000 compared to a year ago.

In Cherokee County, an estimated 4,660 people out of a 26,407-person labor pool are out of work. Both the local unemployment rate and the number of unemployed are more than double what they were a year ago.

The national unemployment rate stood at 9.5 percent for June, little changed from May