Although South Carolina’s jobless rate tied a 26-year record last month, analysts found a few bright spots in the monthly report released Friday.
The state recorded its first increase in total jobs since August and most counties reported declines in unemployment. South Carolina also was replaced as the state with the nation’s second-highest jobless rate.
But economists said that, by the end of the year, things probably will get worse than the 11.4 percent reading in March, a half-percentage point rise over February.