SC Jobless Rate Falls for 7th Straight Month

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina’s jobless rate has fallen for the seventh straight month. The Department of Employment and Workforce said Friday that the state’s unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in February. That’s down slightly from January’s 9.3 percent rate but is still nearly 1 percentage point higher than the national rate of 8.3 percent. South Carolina legislators have been debating who should collect jobless benefits. The House approved a measure Thursday cutting off unemployment checks for anyone who either fails or refuses to take an employer’s drug test. Under the bill, employers would not be required to report the failures to unemployment officials. A Senate bill would require every applicant to pass a drug test to get benefits, but unemployment officials have told senators such a mandate violates federal law.