South Carolina Hiring Struggles Continue

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For decades, South Carolina has consistently lagged behind the rest of the nation – and its regional peers – in terms of jobs and incomes. Apparently, mindless bureaucratic expansion, trial lawyer litigiousness and unchecked, unaccountable crony capitalism are not good ingredients for economic growth.

While “Republicans” – who control the entirety of the Palmetto State’s government – keep advancing these failed policies of the past, employers continue struggling to fill positions. We addressed this problem several years ago… and are sad to report the situation is no better today than it was then.

According to a new study from personal finance website WalletHub, South Carolina continues to rank near the bottom of the national barrel on this important hiring metric.

WalletHub’s Adam McCann compared all fifty states (and the District of Columbia) based on “the rate of job openings for both the latest month and the last 12 months.”

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Per McCann, “the labor market is still doing relatively well” at the national level, with “the national labor force participation rate” close to pre-pandemic levels – which means hiring should be on the uptick.

“Despite these positive statistics, though, many businesses are still facing labor shortages, finding it difficult to hire new employees,” McCann said, adding that “workers are easier to find in some states than others.”

In South Carolina, the struggle is real.

Per the WalletHub report, South Carolina’s job openings rate for the last month was 5.7% – fourth-highest in the entire country. Dating back over the past calendar year, the rate climbed to 5.97% – also fourth-highest nationally. Only Alaska, Kentucky and West Virginia fared worse on these two metrics.

In discussing the 2022 version of this report three years ago, I referenced a challenge issued by FITSNews to incoming S.C. House speaker Murrell Smith – a plea for him to get serious about making the state’s tax climate more competitive.

Three years later, Smith has done nothing but talk.

What has his talk done for Palmetto State taxpayers, workers and small business owners? Nothing.

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“We must give individual income earners and small businesses an incentive to come here,” I noted at the time. “More importantly, we need to incentivize existing small businesses – the primary engine of job creation in our economy – to grow and thrive from the ground up in the Palmetto State.”

South Carolina’s “Republican” leaders continue to fail at doing those things… which is why they are starting to get outflanked on this issue by Democrats.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: South Carolina needs to rethink its approach to “economic development.” That hasn’t happened, though. Instead, state leaders – led by Smith – have doubled down on the same failed approaches responsible for producing these terrible results, all while bragging about how “conservative” they are.

The last GOP primary election should have made it abundantly clear that voters support pro-free market “Republicans.” The longer Smith ignores those voters, the more tenuous his hold on power will become.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.

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