SC Unemployment rate lower

South Carolina’s jobless rate dropped slightly in September, a month after state unemployment reached a 15-year high. The Employment Security Commission on Tuesday attributed the lower rate of 7.3 percent, compared to 7.6 the month before, not to an improving economy but to the unemployed halting their job
searches.

All major sectors except education and health services lost jobs in September. The biggest slide was in hospitality, which posted a seasonal loss of 11,000 jobs as the tourist season wound down.

Allendale County’s 16.9 percent jobless rate was the state’s highest. Beaufort and Lexington counties had the state’s lowest jobless rates, at 5.3 percent. National unemployment held steady at 6.1 percent in September.