News and Press Releases for May 2006

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05/19/2006

Gov. Sanford Issues Statement on Unemployment Rate

Columbia, S.C. - Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on South Carolina's unemployment rate:

"Regardless of month-to-month changes in the state's unemployment rate, there are some more telling signs that say we're moving in the right direction with respect to our economy, particularly when you look at the number of jobs created over the past three years and the pace of growth in state revenue," Gov. Sanford said. "As the chairman of the Board of Economic Advisors said earlier this week, the economy is clearly growing at a substantial rate with more than $1 billion new dollars coming into state government this year. On top of that, there are over 128,000 more people working in our state than there were when 2003 began, there continues to be more people working in South Carolina than ever before, and our state is in the top third of all states for job growth for the first three years of this administration. To continue that pace of growth, we believe more money needs to be returned to the private sector so we can grow the economy, not government."

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are fewer people in South Carolina receiving unemployment benefits than at any point since November of 2000. Job creation during the first three years of Gov. Sanford's administration outpaced each previous administration over a comparable time period since the creation of the Department of Commerce.