COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina's jobless rate has gone up for the second month in a row.
The state Department of Employment and Workforce said Friday that unemployment was 9.4 percent in June. That's 0.3 percentage points higher than in May but more than a full percentage point lower than the 10.5 percent recorded one year ago.
State officials said there were more than 6,600 more unemployed people in South Carolina in June, while the number of employed people went down by more than 9,000. The agency attributed the loss in employment to a drop in full-time jobs, with schools out for summer break.
Nationally, unemployment remained the same from May to June at 8.2 percent.
May's rate of 9.1 percent was the first time South Carolina unemployment had gone up in 10 months.
