A New Approach to Unemployment?

SOUTH CAROLINIANS ARE PAYING BILLIONS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE. IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE? On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce, and Industry met to discuss a massive debt owed by the state unemployment trust fund to the federal government. Like many programs imposed on the states by the federal government, unemployment insurance, with its ever-expanding […]

More “Incentive” for Welfare or Work in S.C.?

Politicians love to tout job creation through business “incentives” — but is there an incentive to take these jobs? Given the dismal unemployment rates both on the national and state levels (8.1 percent in South Carolina), one would think that anyone currently without a job would do anything to obtain a job. Well, according to the recent […]

What’s South Carolina’s Biggest Employer?

 IT’S NOT WHAT POLITICIANS TELL YOU What industry would you guess is the biggest employer in South Carolina? Listening to State House politicians, you might think the answer is one company, Boeing. Or you might think tourism is the number one employer in the state. In reality, government is the single largest employer in South […]

Unemployment has fallen – but why?

  Well, we’ve seen an uptick in employment, or a downtick in unemployment – however you want to think about it. With an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent, South Carolina now ranks at number 42. Over the next several weeks, therefore, you’re likely to hear South Carolina politicians crowing about how their efforts at job […]

Financial Coercion: Federal Control of South Carolina’s Entitlements

Part of the Obama administration’s stimulus bill established unemployment “incentive grants” to states who “modernize” (translation: expand) unemployment benefit eligibility. Any state whose law coheres with federal standards could receive the money. For South Carolina, the federal government offered $97 million dollars in federal funds if – and only if – state lawmakers changed state law to expand unemployment benefit eligibility.

Government Hiring Masks Real Unemployment Picture

South Carolina’s unemployment rate has long been among the worst in the country, hitting a high of 12.5 percent in January 2010. As of June 2010 (latest data available), the unemployment rate had fallen to 10.7 percent. During the same period, South Carolina has gone from having the 4th worst employment rate in the nation to the 7th worst. Currently, the state is one of thirteen suffering from double-digit unemployment. Worse still is that even this marginal improvement in employment is misleading. In fact, government hiring accounts for much of the new hiring, suggesting a private-sector recovery is still a long way off.