Columbia, South Carolina Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Columbia fell 0.3 percentage points in December 2011 to 8.1%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than the South Carolina rate. The unemployment rate in Columbia peaked in July 2011 at 9.7% and is now 1.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare Columbia 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
Columbia	8.1%	-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: Columbia, South Carolina, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Columbia, South Carolina Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Columbia peaked in August 2011 at 36,105. There are now 6,093 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Columbia employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Columbia, South Carolina) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
Columbia	30,012	-1,401	-4,138

Number of Unemployed Persons

Columbia, South Carolina Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	South Carolina Unemployment Rate	Columbia Unemployment Rate	Columbia Unemployed
January 2012	8.3%	—	—	—
December 2011	8.5%	9.5%	8.1%	30,012
November 2011	8.7%	9.9%	8.4%	31,413
October 2011	8.9%	10.5%	9.0%	33,779
September 2011	9.0%	10.9%	9.5%	35,525
August 2011	9.1%	11.1%	9.7%	36,105
July 2011	9.1%	10.9%	9.7%	35,827
June 2011	9.1%	10.5%	9.2%	33,943
May 2011	9.0%	10.0%	8.6%	31,599
April 2011	9.0%	9.8%	8.2%	30,178
March 2011	8.9%	9.9%	8.2%	30,155
February 2011	9.0%	10.2%	8.5%	31,043
January 2011	9.1%	10.5%	8.8%	32,248