Unemployment rate drops to 9.9 percent

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s unemployment rate fell to 9.9 percent in November and officials say it was the largest monthly drop since 1976. The Department of Employment and Workforce said Tuesday the state’s jobless rate for November fell 0.6 percentage points from the October 10.5 percent rate. The department called the drop unprecedented because it was the largest monthly drop since the Bureau of Labor Statistics made the monthly data series available in 1976. Last month, the September jobless rate had been revised downward from 11 percent to 10.9 percent. The executive director of the state jobless agency said last month that South Carolina recently got $20 million in workforce development grants and the money was being used to retrain workers in industries such as industrial maintenance and manufacturing. (Copyright 2011 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)