Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Charleston fell 0.3 percentage points in December 2011 to 8.0%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.5 percentage points lower than the South Carolina rate. The unemployment rate in Charleston peaked in August 2009 at 9.8% and is now 1.8 percentage points lower. You can also compare Charleston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	8.5%	-0.2	-0.9
South Carolina	9.5%	-0.4	-1.4
Charleston	8.0%	-0.3	-1.2

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with December 2011 data as January metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Charleston, South Carolina, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Charleston, South Carolina Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Charleston peaked in November 2009 at 31,523. There are now 5,428 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Charleston employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Charleston, South Carolina) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
Charleston	26,095	-984	-3,658

Number of Unemployed Persons

Charleston, South Carolina Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	South Carolina Unemployment Rate	Charleston Unemployment Rate	Charleston Unemployed
January 2012	8.3%	—	—	—
December 2011	8.5%	9.5%	8.0%	26,095
November 2011	8.7%	9.9%	8.3%	27,079
October 2011	8.9%	10.5%	8.9%	28,802
September 2011	9.0%	10.9%	9.2%	30,053
August 2011	9.1%	11.1%	9.3%	30,394
July 2011	9.1%	10.9%	9.4%	30,352
June 2011	9.1%	10.5%	9.0%	29,246
May 2011	9.0%	10.0%	8.5%	27,472
April 2011	9.0%	9.8%	8.2%	26,321
March 2011	8.9%	9.9%	8.1%	26,111
February 2011	9.0%	10.2%	8.3%	26,868
January 2011	9.1%	10.5%	8.7%	28,069