Citizens of both Georgia and South Carolina are having more success at finding work than in some other states. As of October, the unemployment rate for the United States was 3.7 percent, but both Georgia and South Carolina are doing better; Georgia is at 2.9 percent, and South Carolina is at 3.3 percent.
In general, the local economy performs at about the state average. Stacker, an internet news gathering site, recently listed the 50 counties with the highest unemployment rates in each state. The good news for the CSRA is that Columbia County was not in the top 50 and although Aiken County made the list in South Carolina, its rate is below the state rate.
But several other area counties did make the list. Fortunately, many of those counties have small labor forces, so the actual number of unemployed remains low. Here are those counties, with their state ranking, according to Stacker.
Georgia
#5. Burke County
• Current unemployment rate: 4.8%
• 1-month change: -0.5%
• 1-year change: -0.6%
• Total labor force: 8,984 (429 unemployed)
#11. Richmond County
• Current unemployment rate: 4.0%
• 1-month change: -0.4%
• 1-year change: -0.8%
• Total labor force: 82,588 (3,263 unemployed)
#14. McDuffie County
• Current unemployment rate: 3.9%
• 1-month change: -0.6%
• 1-year change: -0.6%
• Total labor force: 8,374 (323 unemployed)
#46. Jefferson County
• Current unemployment rate: 3.3%
• 1-month change: -0.6%
• 1-year change: -0.5%
• Total labor force: 6,966 (228 unemployed)
#47. Appling County
• Current unemployment rate: 3.3%
• 1-month change: -0.5%
• 1-year change: +0.1%
• Total labor force: 8,890 (292 unemployed)
#50. Lincoln County
• Current unemployment rate: 3.2%
• 1-month change: -0.4%
• 1-year change: -0.8%
• Total labor force: 3,507 (113 unemployed)
South Carolina
#8. Barnwell County
• Current unemployment rate: 4.7%
• 1-month change: -0.4%
• 1-year change: -0.9%
• Total labor force: 7,439 (346 unemployed)
#16. McCormick County
• Current unemployment rate: 3.6%
• 1-month change: -0.7%
• 1-year change: -0.4%
• Total labor force: 3,301 (120 unemployed)
#25. Edgefield County
• Current unemployment rate: 3.3%
• 1-month change: +0.3%
• 1-year change: +0.7%
• Total labor force: 10,311 (337 unemployed)
#33. Aiken County
• Current unemployment rate: 2.9%
• 1-month change: -0.1%
• 1-year change: +0.2%
• Total labor force: 73,249 (2,125 unemployed)
