Unrelenting Economic Downturn Alters Jobless Map in U.S., With South Hit Hard

When the unemployment rate rose in most states last month, it underscored the extent to which the deep recession, the anemic recovery and the lingering crisis of joblessness are beginning to reshape the nation’s economic map.

The once-booming South, which entered the recession with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, is now struggling with some of the highest rates, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

Several Southern states ”” including South Carolina, whose 11.1 percent unemployment rate is the fourth highest in the nation ”” have higher unemployment rates than they did a year ago. Unemployment in the South is now higher than it is in the Northeast and the Midwest, which include Rust Belt states that were struggling even before the recession.

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, * International News & Commentary, * South Carolina, America/U.S.A., City Government, Economy, Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market, Politics in General, State Government, The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--