The local economy of South Carolina and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
4.1%
August 2026, 4.6% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,296
Q1 2026, 2,326,599 jobs
New homes permitted
46,439
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
+59,037
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for South Carolina, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for South Carolina is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in South Carolina was 4.1% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.6% a year earlier. 2,566,682 people were employed out of a labor force of 2,675,730. Among its counties, Charleston County had the lowest rate (3.5%) and Williamsburg County the highest (7.1%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in South Carolina was $1,296 in Q1 2026, up 4.0% from a year earlier, across 2,326,599 jobs at 193,065 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 3,724 new homes in South Carolina in August 2026 (3,295 single-family and 416 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 33,059, up 2.9% from the same months last year, and 46,439 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Horry County (6,253), Greenville County (5,036), Spartanburg County (4,357) over the last 12 months.
Yes. From 2022 to 2023, 180,652 people moved to South Carolina and 121,615 moved away, a net gain of 59,037 (+14.7 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and most people who left went to North Carolina, Georgia, Florida.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for South Carolina. In its region, Lower Atlantic, regular gasoline averaged $4.20 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.