COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - As the holiday season ended, the state lost 30,800 in January compared with December, the state Employment Security Commission said Tuesday.
The state typically loses jobs at the start of the year, but the job loss was not as heavy this year because hiring during the holiday season was weak, the agency said.
Many jobs were lost in the service industry, as retailers let go of temporary workers at the end of the winter holidays and as the tourism season ended, officials said.
"Normally the unemployment rate does go up in January," said Sam McClary of the commission. "That's typical. It's a slow time for construction and tourism is at its slowest point and you've got the after-holiday lack of activity."
About 5,200 jobs were lost in the tourism industry, mostly because of seasonal layoffs among hotel and restaurant workers, the agency said. About 2,200 construction jobs were also lost.
Manufacturing continued to suffer job losses with about 2,200 in January. The state has lost 11,600, or 4.1 percent, of its factory jobs in the past 12 months, most in the textile industry, the agency said.
