Greenville County Unemployment Dipped in March

The jobless picture in Greenville County improved in March, as the unemployment rate dipped to 6.2 percent from 6.6 percent the previous month, the SC Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) reported Friday.

The March jobless figure also was down eight-tenths of a percentage point from the 7 percent jobless rate in March 2012, DEW reported.

Along with Charleston County, Greenville County tied for the state's second-lowest rate, bested only by Lexington County, whose unemployment dropped to 6 percent.

In a good sign for the entire state, all 46 SC counties saw their jobless rates drop in March, with the highest being Marion County, whose rate dropped a full 1.5 percentage points to 16.2 percent, DEW reported.

The unemployment rate for the Greenville Metropolitan Statistical Area (which consists of Greenville, Laurens, Anderson and Pickens counties) dropped from 6.8 to 6.4 percent.

The statewide jobless rate decreased slightly to 8.4 percent from 8.6 in February, and fell nearly a full percentage point from March 2012's 9.3 percent.

Statewide, the number of employed persons was 1,992,113, and the unemployed totaled 182,978, which is the lowest level since October 2008, according to DEW.