Anderson County employment set another record high in October, according to data released last week by the SC Department of Employment and Workforce (SC DEW).
The county’s total number of employed persons was 89,469 in October 2021, which exceeds the previous record of 89,207 recorded in July of this year.
“This is why we work so hard to promote economic development opportunities in Anderson County,” Anderson County Council Chair Tommy Dunn said in a press release. “Twice during my service on council, we have seen national conditions cause widespread job market disruption, and twice we have been able to get our folks back to work by providing access to jobs across all industries and sectors.”
The county’s unemployment rate was 2.8 percent in October, compared with 4.5 percent in October 2020. Anderson County’s October unemployment rate is significantly lower than the statewide rate of 3.9 percent and the national rate of 4.6 percent.
The decrease in the unemployment rate from 2020 is attributed in large part to systemic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and a recent flurry of economic development announcements, according to county officials.
Last month, Arthrex announced plans to expand its Anderson County operations with a more than $100 million investment that will create 500 new jobs. In August, Shenandoah Growers, Inc., a national leader in commercially advanced indoor agriculture, said it will open a new 100,000-square-foot facility in Anderson County in 2022, creating 50 new jobs. And this past May, Old Dominion Freight Line and South City Holdings announced projects totaling nearly $20 million in new investment.
