STATE—Between May and September, South Carolina’s workforce has declined by 32,500, according to information released by the South Carolina Employment Security Commission.

Despite a smaller group of potential workers, the state’s unemployment rate rose from 11.4 percent in August to 11.6 percent in September.

Don Schunk said the increase in the unemployment rate coupled with the decrease in the size of the labor force is a bad combination for South Carolina.

“At this point in the economic cycle, month-to-month changes in the unemployment rate are largely driven by difficult-to-predict changes in the size of the labor force,” Schunk said. “The true underlying condition of labor markets is always hidden well behind the headline unemployment rate. Labor markets are incredibly dynamic with jobs always being created and lost, people always moving into the labor force and other dropping out of the labor force.”

Schunk said that the state’s unemployment rate would be 12.9 percent had the labor force size not decreased so significantly.

“It is likely the higher number more closely resembles the conditions facing South Carolina households,” Schunk said. “Add in the individuals working part-time rather than full-time, and the unemployment/underemployment rate is likely over 20 percent.”

Pickens County’s unemployment rate in September was reported as 10.5 percent, the 37th highest of South Carolina’s 46 counties. Lexington has the lowest unemployment rate a 8.3 percent. Allendale County has the highest unemployment rate at 22.5 percent.