Continuing on the Recovery Summer and Stimulus: State by State, we head to South Carolina.
Quick South Carolina facts:
- In January of 2009, the unemployment rate in South Carolina was 10.0%. As of June 30, 2010, the unemployment rate was 10.7%–a net increase of nearly 1% (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- According to Recovery.gov, South Carolina has received 3,557 awards. This has resulted in $4,119,560,312 being spent to create/save 11,127.88* jobs (Source: Recovery.gov)
- The labor force in South Carolina has decreased by 26,631 people. In January of 2009, the labor force was 2,176,880 people strong and decreased to 2,150,249 people as of June 2010. During the supposed “recovery” period, more people walked out of the labor force than joined. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- According to the Recovery Summer Map, South Carolina boasts zero “Summer of Recovery” projects!
- The number of people employed in South Carolina has fallen by 38,670 people! (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- The Obama administration projected the change in jobs by December 31, 2010 to be +50,000 jobs. To date, South Carolina has lost 14,600 jobs. (Source: Ways & Means Republicans)
The employment trend in South Carolina has continued downward since Obama took office. When 2010 began, South Carolina noticed a small recovery that appears to have come to an end by the time that the “Summer of Recovery” began. As we have noticed over all of the states that we have covered so far, this slight “recovery” trend ends about the time that the temporary government jobs connected with the Census came to an end. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Has the Recovery Act done anything for South Carolina? No.
Has “Recovery Summer” done anything for South Carolina? No.
While South Carolina gave its electoral votes to John McCain in 2008, the state has seen an influx of government spending from the “stimulus”. Even accounting for the fact that over $4 billion dollars was spent, the effects of such spending have never been realized in the state. The unemployment rate is still higher than it was at the time that Obama came in to office. Even further, the state has not benefited from the mythical “Summer of Recovery” spearheaded by the Obama Administration.
Read more on Recovery Summer and the Stimulus Effects on States.
*: The number of jobs created/saved conflicts with other government sources on Recovery.gov. This number was pulled from the latest figured offered on Recovery.gov
