Free Republic

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Job losses in manufacturing helped push South Carolina's unemployment rate to 7.1 percent in February, the Employment Security Commission reported Thursday. The rate was up from 7 percent in January, and the change gave the state the third-highest jobless rate in the country behind Alaska and Michigan. Nationwide, the unemployment rate increased to 5.4 percent in February from 5.2 percent a month earlier. The state added 6,700 new nonfarm jobs in February. More than half the gains were in state and local government .......