SC unemployment falls to 9.3 percent

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s jobless rate has fallen for the sixth straight month, but state officials say the drop is mostly because thousands of people stopped looking for work.

The state Department of Employment and Workforce said Tuesday that South Carolina’s unemployment rate was 9.3 percent in January. That’s still a full percentage point higher than the national jobless rate of 8.3 percent.

The agency says the state drop is mostly because about 7,900 people stopped looking for jobs.

In December, the state’s unemployment rate plunged to its lowest rate in three years as an improving economy had employers putting more people to work making, moving and selling goods. The revised 9.6 percent rate was down from 9.9 percent in November.

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