For the fourth consecutive month, South Carolina's unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent in November.
In October, the unemployment rate was 8.6 percent.
The number of unemployed people fell over the month by 6,434 to 176,953. There was a rise in the number of employed people, up 9,758 to 1,964,377.
The unemployment rate has fallen 1.5 percentage points since November 2011.
Nationally, the unemployment rate also fell from 7.9 percent in October to 7.7 percent in November. This was caused mainly by a drop of 350,000 in the overall labor force.
With the Christmas holiday, increased hiring in Retail Trade pushed the Trade, Transportation and Utilities industry up by 1.5 percent or 5,500.
Other positive employment trends were Government (+3,100), Education and Health Services (+1,200), Manufacturing (+1,100), Information (+200) and Financial Services (+100).
There were some industries that lost employment since October 2012: Leisure and Hospitality (-2,200 jobs); Professional and Business Services (-1,400); and Construction (-700). These industry losses were seen in accommodation and food services in the coastal areas, administrative and support services, and Specialty Trade Contractors. The Mining and Logging industries were unchanged over the month.
