With S.C. job growth worst in the U.S., manufacturers want our state to study its ability to attract new industry.

The South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance believes the state needs to improve its efforts to attract new businesses, and to help, the group is preparing a study of the state's economic climate.

"One of the reasons we're doing that is because we wonder if over the last five or six or seven years if the state's had good direction with regard to economic development," Lewis Gossett, president and CEO of SCMA, told Greenville News reporters and editors on Thursday.

The SCMA's effort is taking place while a disappointing economic picture continues to develop. A report Wednesday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ranked South Carolina dead last among the 50 states in job growth for the second quarter of this year, with a rate of just 0.07 percent. The number is appalling, but not necessarily surprising, given previous state economic news.

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Democrats have seized upon the FDIC report to criticize Gov. Mark Sanford.

John Land III, top Democrat in the state Senate, told News reporter Dan Hoover that Sanford "continues to paint a rosy picture of South Carolina's economy. But the facts say otherwise."

It's true that Sanford made it a cornerstone of his administration to improve the economic climate in this state. While he can point to a few positives -- like the decision by Vaught-Alenia to put a major airplane fuselage assembly plant in Charleston County -- the numbers are discouraging.

In terms of attracting new business, SCMA believes the state should take stock of how competitive South Carolina is compared with other states, whether the Commerce Department is aggressive enough and whether incentives the state offers to new businesses are attractive enough. SCMA represents more than 100 of the state's top manufacturers.

The main question is, "Are we really being competitive for these big projects that are out there when they do come down the pike?" Gossett said.

It's a legitimate question, and it is good to see state manufacturers taking a lead role in finding an answer. After all, businesses already here will benefit, too, as the economy improves.

However, if improvement is needed -- and the economic data indicates that it is -- it will fall to Sanford to take a leadership role in making it happen. He can start by carefully studying reports such as SCMA's, building on experiences from successful efforts like Vaught-Alenia and working constructively with Democrats and the Legislature.