Image by Flickr user Photo Munki Deluxe Image by 20081219-unemployment.jpg

South Carolina's unemployment hit 8.4% in November -- the new rate is half a percentage point above October's level and the highest since September 1983.

Read more stories on this subject in our unemployment topic page. In a prepared statement Roosevelt T. Halley, executive director of the S.C. Employment Security Commission, said:
South Carolina has been one of the hardest-hit states in terms of unemployment during the recessionary period of the past year. The Employment Security Commission is currently paying Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to more than 60,000 people each week. The amount of benefits being paid each week is exceeding $12 million.

And the agency is running short on cash, luckily the federal government is ready and willing to lend funds to pay unemployment. However, our governor, Mark Sanford, has been threatening not to sine off on the $147 million loan, saying the state agency dolling out payments has been wasteful.

It's likely political posturing as it would be unprecedented for a governor to prevent unemployment payments.

But, on the upside, Charleston was fortunate enough to have the third lowest, and all the tri-county area counties had relatively lower levels of unemployment. Still, local unemployment rates are still growing.

November October

Rank County 2008 2008 Change

1	Allendale	17.8	16.9	0.9
2	Marion	17.1	15.8	1.3
3	Bamberg	14.4	13.7	0.7
	Barnwell	14.4	12.4	2.0
...
19	Colleton	10.5	9.9	0.6
...
21	Georgetown	10.2	8.7	1.5
...
36	Berkeley	7.5	7.1	0.4
...
42	Dorchester	7.0	6.7	0.3
...
44	Charleston	6.4	6.1	0.3
45	Beaufort	6.3	6.0	0.3
46	Lexington	6.0	5.8	0.2