COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina had the nation's fourth-highest unemployment rate in February at 6.3 percent, the U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday.

The rate, little changed from a revised 6.2 percent in January, is expected to stay high for a while, a Clemson University economist said. The national unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in February.

While the jobless rate was improved from 6.5 percent in February 2003, manufacturing lost 11,800 jobs during the period, the state Employment Security Commission reported.

"Some of the manufacturing jobs will come back," Clemson economics professor Bobby McCormick said. "It's just not going to be in the same numbers."

McCormick said since South Carolina is a smaller state, it "has felt this decline in manufacturing employment in its core industries more than its neighbors - and probably will for some time."

The job losses point to the need to reduce the state's income tax and focus more on emerging industries, said Will Folks, spokesman for Republican Gov. Mark Sanford. "We need to continue to focus on base manufacturing jobs, but in the post-NAFTA environment ... you clearly have to expand your focus," Folks said.

U.S. Senate candidate Inez Tenenbaum, a Democrat, said tax relief for manufacturers is needed to stop the flow of jobs overseas.

Republican Senate candidate Charlie Condon also agreed lower taxes are the key to job growth. "Lower taxes reduce the burden on the business owner, making it more likely that he will invest to create new jobs," Condon said through his spokeswoman Christy Fargnoli.

U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint, also a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, called for a reformed tax code, elimination of lawsuits and improvements in education.

"Our high school drop out rate is far too high and is a serious, if underreported, cause of unemployment," DeMint said in a statement. "Studies show that high school dropout-driven unemployment is a much greater problem than trade related disruptions like outsourcing, for example."

Former Gov. David Beasley, also a Republican running for the Senate, said the numbers show the "need for a leader that will fight for our jobs."

"When I was governor, South Carolina was a leader in job creation," Beasley said.

But, economist McCormick said South Carolina's manufacturing jobs likely are gone for good and workers will have to look to other areas for future careers. Recovery, he said, "depends upon the will of our citizens to realize that these job losses are permanent" and pursue education and look to high-end tourism jobs.

Marlboro County had the highest unemployment rate in February at 20.5 percent. Lexington County had the lowest with 3.1 percent.