IT’S RAINING PINK SLIPS IN THE PALMETTO STATE
Earlier this week, Caterpillar reporting it was laying off more than 500 employees at its facility in Fountain Inn, S.C. Also earlier this week, aerospace and defense giant General Dynamics announced it was laying off 170 employees at its facility in Ladson, S.C.
Now FITS learns that Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) – a global information technology firm with a sprawling campus in Blythewood, S.C. – is embarking on additional layoffs (beyond what we reported on last month).
We don’t have a precise number yet, but the company is in the middle of another round of rolling layoffs that our sources say will wind up costing “hundreds” their jobs.
In other words, it is not “a great day in South Carolina …”
News of these three major job loss announcements comes on the heels of fresh data exposing the grim employment reality in the Palmetto State. While South Carolina’s unemployment rate has been declining, it isn’t due to new jobs – it’s due to a workforce that continues to shrink.
In fact South Carolina’s labor participation rate for March – the latest data available – stood at a record low 57.9 percent. That’s the fourth-worst rate in the nation – a full 5.3 percentage points behind the national rate, which itself has been hovering for over a year at three-decade lows.
To read our exclusive report on that data, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE: Sources at CSC tell FITS the company laid off fifty additional employees today (Wednesday April 30). Additional layoffs are expected later this week – and again next month.
30 comments
FITS, the economy has been a Disaster since the last quarter of 2008, when Obama was elected….I told you that early and often, no matter if you are too stupid, too Greedy or too corrupt to heed…
If you would have been on the job (or had any talent of observation) you would have expected lay offs. And you would have thanked Gov. Haley, and the GOP for fighting the destructive policies of Obama. Thatnks to beter elected officials in SC, we can tread water until we can rid America of the Disaster Known as the Obama Administration…
Hopefully, by your gleeful posts of BAD news, we can get a Conservative, heavy-majority US Senate, increase the number of Conservatives in the US House…and begin ending this nightmare of Obama…
We’ll also need to wade through the ignorance, and mis-guided blame game, Dumb@$$#$ like FITS are playing..and hold the democrat party responsible for what they have done, and are doing….
It’s all O’bummer’s fault. He hates SC.
Yup. Dubbyah LOVED SC, so all was great in the 2000’s. Paradise in the Palmetto state. Then Obama came in, and on that EXACT day, all went to poop. Despite the Republican power in SC, Obama was able to overcome and do his work to single-handedly destroy SC.
The economy tanked and went into official recession in 2007 and came out in 2009.
http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2012/recession/pdf/recession_bls_spotlight.pdf
Obama was inaugurated Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
Do not let facts confuse you.
And: You can keep your coverage…and it will cost less….right?
Actually you are both right and both wrong. The recession started in 07 when the Dims took control of congress and hasn’t ended yet.
Thanks for the Correction…But I’m a H#!! of a lot more right than him/her…
A conservative is always right, a liberal is always wrong and a moderate doesn’t know the difference.
Yep! Republicans have the House and haven’t done jack shit to fix anything, just a partisan circle jerk.
Last night I saw a infomercial by the Governor saying no unemployment, jobs available for anyone not happy with their EBT stipend and that South Carolina was leading the South in job growth – all of this under her watch
So somebody in the room has just farted
Sharted Jim, it’s sharted.
Anywho, chalk up yet another success in gov’t handing over our taxpayer dollars to corporations fascism style.
We just need another 5 year plan, handing out money to any corporation that says they’ll create jobs here and then not following up to see if they do that.
Good job Bobby Hitt!
Haley loves ribbon-cutting but is a “no-show” for the company closing liquidation sale. Her scdew is cutting back on workforce training. Her phone greeting sould be: “Move your company to Georgia.” (Caterpillar listened!)
What is Nikki Haley’s SCDEW doing? More layoffs perhaps?
SCDEW is busy closing their rural training offices, even though they got an increase in federal funding. Gotta grow the kingdon in Columbia. Caterpillar left because they couldn’t find trained workers. Georgia has a great workforce support system, SC doesn’t. Georgia get’s it, Haley guts it.
The workforce training and support part of SCDEW needs to be put back under Commerce. Cheryl Stanton doesn’t understand it and is mismanaging it.
She’s going around the state, meeting with the Workforce Boards, refusing to pay her bills, and trying to explain the rural office closures. And you’re right, her funding has increased. No wonder her own worker sued her.
You want fries with that?
Can I super-size it?
The GDP Growth in the First Quarter of 2014 was one-tenth of one-percent..one of the worst quarters in the Obama era…(and that means it’s really BAD)….
Yet FITS blames Haley and his merry band of ignorant C*#k-Suckers say the economy is going gangbusters..
If these are the oblivious son of a B!*ches voting, is it any wonder we’re in such a mess….???
Caterpillar was a pretty bad loss, especially because they make Marine engines. The maritime industry is booming right now, and of course SC will have no part in it.
Its a great day to boot Haley”s sorry ass out of office in November. Its a great day to have to work three jobs at the same time because the only jobs available pay minimum wage. Haley’ motto keep them poor and stupid and they will keep voting for you.
Let see Haley post this on Facebook………or the other child that just died under DSS and their batshit crazy Director.
a drop in the bucket of how many were hired and way pverpaid to build the new shit system that is still not operational for USC. They didn’t want all those bodies to be seen around campus. Good riddance
What do people expect. You elected a governor who had no, nada experience in doing anything except leverage her seat in the state house for $100K a year lobbying for a hospital that would have been built anyway. Ya’ll got “lipstick pigged” by Sarah Palin to vote for her, and she’s been an utter failure – and you wonder why. Thank goodness McCain and Palin didn’t win – he’d have had a breakdown by now and she’d be in charge. Then the entire country, not just last place Carolina – would be going down the crapper.
Last place in what?
Hmm….this is NOT good news for Lindsey Graham or TIM scott or JaMes CLYburn….!!
We wonder if Nancy Mace can guess and decipher just what type of work these fine employees can do that is NOT being done right now to generate jobs and profit…!?
Associated Press: MOX mothball on hold through 2013
“We will continue with construction activities through 2014, retaining the key nuclear engineers and other highly-skilled workers that will be needed regardless of the path forward,” Josh McConaha, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Don’t be fooled, most of the unemployment declines happened in direct corelation to the end of unemployment benefits. When the couch money runs out, folks get their butts off the couch.
It is time to punish corporations for outsourcing.
If it weren’t for Benghazi, South Carolina would be in tall cotton.