After several months of moving in a good direction, Cherokee County’s unemployment rate rose in June to an estimated 14.2 percent.

South Carolina’s overall unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell fourtenths of a percentage point to 10.7 percent, marking the fifth consecutive month that the state’s jobless rate has fallen.

Some data, however, give labor analysts and economists reason for concern — June marked the fourth straight month in a row that South Carolina’s labor force declined. That signifies the unemployment rate is going down largely because some jobless are giving up their search for work, not because jobs are rebounding.

“A falling unemployment rate and declining labor force do not make for a positive statement about South Carolina economic conditions,” said Dr. Bruce Yandle, dean emeritus of Clemson University’s College of Business & Behavioral Science and director of the Strom Thurmond Institute Economic Outlook Project. “Tis better to see a rising unemployment rate with a growing labor force.”

John Finan, executive director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, conceded in prepared remarks about the latest workforce estimates, “We still have a long way to go in increasing consumer confidence which will lead to increased demand and more job growth.”

On a local level, Cherokee County’s unemployment rose from an estimated 13.8 percent in May to 14.2 percent in June.

The county’s workforce was estimated at 25,368 people in June, up by 40 people since May, while the number of unemployed was estimated at 3.594, up about 100 since May.

A year ago, when the local unemployment rate stood at a whopping 17.5 percent, Cherokee County’s workforce was estimated at 26,474 and the number of unemployed surpassed 4,600.

Cherokee County wasn’t the only county in South Carolina to move in an opposite direction in June.

“It looks like everybody went up a little bit,” said Karen Lawson, area director at the Department of Employment and Workforce office in Gaffney.

Only six of South Carolina’s 46 counties saw declines in their unemployment rates last month, according to the latest estimates.

Lawson said there wasn’t any one thing that stood out locally to explain the increase in Cherokee County’s unemployment rate, as there were no plant closures.

Parkdale Mills, which recently took ownership of the former Wellstone Mills plant on Wilcox Avenue, is in the midst of some temporary layoffs while the plant is refurbished. But Lawson noted those employees are expected to be called back.

Lawson also confirmed a recent foreclosure action against Sanders Brothers didn’t appear to have much impact on the jobless numbers. Though her office did get notice of some layoffs of Cherokee County workers from Sanders Brothers, she said the number of local workers was small.

Sanders Brothers did business in and drew employees from a wide area, though, so it’s likely that the impacts of layoffs at the company will be spread out.

For June, the national unemployment rate stood at 9.5 percent, down from 9.7 percent in May. Just as being seen on a state level, however, the labor force is declining on a national level.

Yandle said the jobs data says a lot about the state of manufacturing.

“For two months now, the manufacturing index has not increased,” he said. “The index shows that we are in growth territory, but taking a pause. The pause coincides with Europe’s recent credit problems. We are traveling on a bumpy flat road, with not much in the way of positive news.”