BLS - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

05/06/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/06/2026 10:30

Business Employment Dynamics in South Carolina — Third Quarter 2025

News Release Information

26-374-ATL
Wednesday, May 06, 2026

From June 2025 to September 2025, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in South Carolina were 124,225, while gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 120,535, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment loss of 3,690 jobs in the private sector during the third quarter of 2025. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 13,843. (See chart 1.)

View Chart Data

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

Gross job losses

In the third quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 6.5 percent of private-sector employment in South Carolina; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.7 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In South Carolina, contracting establishments lost 90,145 jobs in the third quarter of 2025, a decrease of 15,702 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 34,080 jobs, an increase of 13,355 jobs from the previous quarter.

View Chart Data


Gross job gains

In the third quarter of 2025, gross job gains represented 6.3 percent of private-sector employment in South Carolina; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.6 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In South Carolina, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 98,252 in the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 8,799 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 22,283 jobs gained in the third quarter of 2025, a decrease of 993 jobs from the previous quarter.

View Chart Data


Industries

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in 9 of the 11 published industry sectors in South Carolina in the third quarter of 2025. Leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job decrease, with a loss of 4,344 jobs. This was the result of 27,119 gross job losses and 22,775 gross job gains. Education and health services showed a net gain of 1,701 jobs, the largest gain of any sector in the state.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Fourth Quarter 2025 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).


Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Category Gross job gains and losses
(3 months ended)
Gross job gains and losses
as a percent of employment
(3 months ended)
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024
Mar.
2025
June
2025
Sept.
2025
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024
Mar.
2025
June
2025
Sept.
2025

Total private

Gross job gains

119,009 124,330 117,725 112,729 120,535 6.2 6.4 6.1 5.8 6.3

At expanding establishments

97,660 101,077 90,348 89,453 98,252 5.1 5.2 4.7 4.6 5.1

At opening establishments

21,349 23,253 27,377 23,276 22,283 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.2

Gross job losses

112,351 113,949 107,863 126,572 124,225 5.9 5.9 5.5 6.6 6.5

At contracting establishments

91,934 84,395 89,787 105,847 90,145 4.8 4.4 4.6 5.5 4.7

At closing establishments

20,417 29,554 18,076 20,725 34,080 1.1 1.5 0.9 1.1 1.8

Net employment change

6,658 10,381 9,862 -13,843 -3,690 0.3 0.5 0.6 -0.8 -0.2

Construction

Gross job gains

8,115 10,297 9,853 9,209 8,411 6.8 8.6 8.1 7.4 6.8

At expanding establishments

6,581 8,253 7,577 7,226 6,804 5.5 6.9 6.2 5.8 5.5

At opening establishments

1,534 2,044 2,276 1,983 1,607 1.3 1.7 1.9 1.6 1.3

Gross job losses

7,848 8,045 7,711 8,202 8,771 6.6 6.7 6.3 6.6 7.1

At contracting establishments

6,227 5,038 5,581 6,330 6,309 5.2 4.2 4.6 5.1 5.1

At closing establishments

1,621 3,007 2,130 1,872 2,462 1.4 2.5 1.7 1.5 2.0

Net employment change

267 2,252 2,142 1,007 -360 0.2 1.9 1.8 0.8 -0.3

Manufacturing

Gross job gains

6,966 7,225 7,853 8,064 7,259 2.6 2.7 3.0 3.0 2.8

At expanding establishments

6,431 6,356 6,480 6,661 6,785 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.6

At opening establishments

535 869 1,373 1,403 474 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.2

Gross job losses

8,487 8,193 7,968 8,162 8,479 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.2

At contracting establishments

7,491 6,954 7,311 6,825 6,836 2.8 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.6

At closing establishments

996 1,239 657 1,337 1,643 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.5 0.6

Net employment change

-1,521 -968 -115 -98 -1,220 -0.6 -0.4 0.0 -0.1 -0.4

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains

3,191 3,833 4,829 3,754 3,599 3.8 4.6 5.7 4.5 4.3

At expanding establishments

2,770 3,182 3,921 2,942 2,829 3.3 3.8 4.6 3.5 3.4

At opening establishments

421 651 908 812 770 0.5 0.8 1.1 1.0 0.9

Gross job losses

3,519 3,711 3,587 4,012 4,227 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.8 5.1

At contracting establishments

2,824 2,761 2,751 3,117 2,990 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.7 3.6

At closing establishments

695 950 836 895 1,237 0.8 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.5

Net employment change

-328 122 1,242 -258 -628 -0.4 0.2 1.4 -0.3 -0.8

Retail trade

Gross job gains

14,368 13,311 16,158 14,344 15,869 5.3 5.0 6.0 5.3 5.9

At expanding establishments

12,649 11,536 13,370 12,386 13,480 4.7 4.3 5.0 4.6 5.0

At opening establishments

1,719 1,775 2,788 1,958 2,389 0.6 0.7 1.0 0.7 0.9

Gross job losses

15,267 15,164 12,001 16,392 15,879 5.6 5.7 4.5 6.0 5.9

At contracting establishments

13,527 12,601 10,494 14,483 13,268 5.0 4.7 3.9 5.3 4.9

At closing establishments

1,740 2,563 1,507 1,909 2,611 0.6 1.0 0.6 0.7 1.0

Net employment change

-899 -1,853 4,157 -2,048 -10 -0.3 -0.7 1.5 -0.7 0.0

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains

4,780 5,730 4,257 4,077 4,618 6.0 7.1 5.4 5.2 5.9

At expanding establishments

4,394 4,954 3,378 3,469 4,122 5.5 6.1 4.3 4.4 5.3

At opening establishments

386 776 879 608 496 0.5 1.0 1.1 0.8 0.6

Gross job losses

3,938 5,125 5,578 5,797 4,398 4.9 6.3 7.0 7.4 5.7

At contracting establishments

3,276 3,950 4,931 5,193 3,336 4.1 4.9 6.2 6.6 4.3

At closing establishments

662 1,175 647 604 1,062 0.8 1.4 0.8 0.8 1.4

Net employment change

842 605 -1,321 -1,720 220 1.1 0.8 -1.6 -2.2 0.2

Information

Gross job gains

1,558 1,146 1,683 1,751 1,425 5.4 4.0 6.1 6.3 5.1

At expanding establishments

1,211 770 1,075 1,060 1,205 4.2 2.7 3.9 3.8 4.3

At opening establishments

347 376 608 691 220 1.2 1.3 2.2 2.5 0.8

Gross job losses

1,524 2,428 1,782 1,396 2,629 5.3 8.6 6.5 5.1 9.5

At contracting establishments

1,064 1,604 1,504 1,044 1,719 3.7 5.7 5.5 3.8 6.2

At closing establishments

460 824 278 352 910 1.6 2.9 1.0 1.3 3.3

Net employment change

34 -1,282 -99 355 -1,204 0.1 -4.6 -0.4 1.2 -4.4

Financial activities

Gross job gains

6,672 6,482 6,188 6,989 5,834 5.6 5.4 5.1 5.8 4.8

At expanding establishments

5,236 4,673 4,408 5,436 4,841 4.4 3.9 3.6 4.5 4.0

At opening establishments

1,436 1,809 1,780 1,553 993 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.3 0.8

Gross job losses

5,913 5,791 5,637 6,246 6,784 5.0 4.9 4.7 5.2 5.6

At contracting establishments

4,552 3,817 4,210 4,927 4,464 3.8 3.2 3.5 4.1 3.7

At closing establishments

1,361 1,974 1,427 1,319 2,320 1.2 1.7 1.2 1.1 1.9

Net employment change

759 691 551 743 -950 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.6 -0.8

Professional and business services

Gross job gains

28,231 25,211 25,140 21,461 25,046 9.0 8.0 7.9 6.8 7.9

At expanding establishments

22,964 19,536 18,722 16,688 21,150 7.3 6.2 5.9 5.3 6.7

At opening establishments

5,267 5,675 6,418 4,773 3,896 1.7 1.8 2.0 1.5 1.2

Gross job losses

21,651 26,763 20,612 29,260 26,125 6.9 8.5 6.5 9.2 8.3

At contracting establishments

17,287 19,177 16,228 25,352 17,418 5.5 6.1 5.1 8.0 5.5

At closing establishments

4,364 7,586 4,384 3,908 8,707 1.4 2.4 1.4 1.2 2.8

Net employment change

6,580 -1,552 4,528 -7,799 -1,079 2.1 -0.5 1.4 -2.4 -0.4

Education and health services

Gross job gains

15,911 14,418 14,433 14,610 15,074 5.7 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.2

At expanding establishments

12,132 11,558 10,736 11,380 12,934 4.3 4.1 3.8 4.0 4.5

At opening establishments

3,779 2,860 3,697 3,230 2,140 1.4 1.0 1.3 1.1 0.7

Gross job losses

13,948 13,239 11,821 12,690 13,373 5.0 4.7 4.2 4.5 4.7

At contracting establishments

11,338 9,096 10,184 10,154 9,130 4.1 3.2 3.6 3.6 3.2

At closing establishments

2,610 4,143 1,637 2,536 4,243 0.9 1.5 0.6 0.9 1.5

Net employment change

1,963 1,179 2,612 1,920 1,701 0.7 0.4 0.9 0.6 0.5

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains

23,365 30,181 20,923 22,869 22,775 8.4 10.6 7.3 8.1 8.2

At expanding establishments

18,589 24,993 16,038 17,721 18,925 6.7 8.8 5.6 6.3 6.8

At opening establishments

4,776 5,188 4,885 5,148 3,850 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.4

Gross job losses

25,324 19,744 24,903 28,608 27,119 9.1 6.9 8.7 10.1 9.8

At contracting establishments

20,379 15,439 21,758 23,734 20,251 7.3 5.4 7.6 8.4 7.3

At closing establishments

4,945 4,305 3,145 4,874 6,868 1.8 1.5 1.1 1.7 2.5

Net employment change

-1,959 10,437 -3,980 -5,739 -4,344 -0.7 3.7 -1.4 -2.0 -1.6

Other services

Gross job gains

4,451 4,835 4,906 4,560 4,580 7.3 7.8 8.0 7.3 7.4

At expanding establishments

3,498 3,830 3,475 3,573 3,530 5.7 6.2 5.7 5.7 5.7

At opening establishments

953 1,005 1,431 987 1,050 1.6 1.6 2.3 1.6 1.7

Gross job losses

3,937 4,543 4,133 4,345 5,191 6.4 7.4 6.8 6.9 8.4

At contracting establishments

3,123 2,980 3,469 3,461 3,408 5.1 4.9 5.7 5.5 5.5

At closing establishments

814 1,563 664 884 1,783 1.3 2.5 1.1 1.4 2.9

Net employment change

514 292 773 215 -611 0.9 0.4 1.2 0.4 -1.0
Category Gross job gains as a percent of employment
(3 months ended)
Gross job losses as a percent of employment
(3 months ended)
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024
Mar.
2025
June
2025
Sept.
2025
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024
Mar.
2025
June
2025
Sept.
2025

United States

5.8 5.9 5.6 5.7 5.6 5.8 5.7 5.4 6.0 5.7

Alabama

5.8 5.8 5.3 5.5 5.4 5.9 5.3 5.6 5.6 5.5

Alaska

8.0 10.3 10.0 9.9 7.5 9.6 9.5 8.1 10.3 10.0

Arizona

6.4 6.1 5.8 5.3 5.8 5.7 5.9 5.3 6.3 5.5

Arkansas

5.5 5.8 5.1 5.1 5.3 5.2 4.8 5.1 5.5 5.3

California

6.3 6.7 6.0 6.6 6.2 6.2 6.4 6.2 6.7 6.0

Colorado

6.3 6.2 6.2 6.4 6.5 6.4 6.5 6.8 7.1 6.5

Connecticut

5.5 5.5 5.6 5.8 5.3 5.6 5.5 5.3 5.8 5.9

Delaware

6.8 6.1 5.9 5.9 5.3 6.4 6.3 5.3 6.1 6.1

District of Columbia

4.9 5.0 4.8 5.7 4.6 5.0 5.5 5.8 5.9 5.9

Florida

6.5 6.0 5.8 5.7 5.9 5.7 6.2 5.5 5.8 6.0

Georgia

5.8 6.0 5.5 5.5 5.7 6.1 5.4 5.7 5.6 5.8

Hawaii

5.7 5.3 4.9 4.8 5.1 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.2 4.8

Idaho

7.1 8.2 7.3 7.7 6.7 7.5 6.8 7.3 7.2 7.6

Illinois

4.9 5.1 5.0 5.2 4.7 5.0 5.1 5.0 5.2 5.0

Indiana

5.3 5.5 5.4 5.0 5.1 5.3 5.1 5.2 5.6 5.1

Iowa

5.3 5.6 5.8 5.6 4.8 6.0 5.6 5.5 5.8 5.9

Kansas

5.3 5.9 5.5 5.4 5.8 5.6 5.2 5.4 6.3 5.8

Kentucky

5.4 5.3 5.2 5.0 5.3 5.4 5.5 4.8 5.4 5.6

Louisiana

6.1 6.2 5.6 5.5 5.9 5.8 5.5 5.6 6.3 6.0

Maine

6.2 7.0 7.4 7.2 6.2 7.1 7.1 6.3 7.4 7.0

Maryland

5.9 6.0 5.9 5.7 5.7 6.1 5.9 5.7 6.2 6.5

Massachusetts

5.0 5.3 5.0 5.5 5.3 5.8 5.5 5.1 5.8 5.9

Michigan

5.3 5.4 5.2 5.8 4.9 5.8 5.9 5.3 5.5 5.9

Minnesota

5.1 5.5 5.1 5.8 5.3 5.8 5.1 5.5 5.5 5.6

Mississippi

6.3 6.3 5.7 6.3 6.4 5.7 6.2 6.1 6.5 6.1

Missouri

5.6 5.7 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.8 5.3 5.2 6.1 5.9

Montana

7.2 8.4 8.0 7.7 7.0 8.0 7.8 7.5 8.3 7.9

Nebraska

5.6 5.6 5.2 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.5 5.3 5.5 5.8

Nevada

6.2 6.1 5.4 6.2 6.9 5.9 5.6 5.9 6.3 5.2

New Hampshire

5.6 6.3 6.5 6.3 5.6 6.7 5.9 6.1 6.7 6.8

New Jersey

5.4 6.0 5.6 5.8 5.3 5.8 5.5 5.4 5.5 5.8

New Mexico

6.3 6.1 5.9 5.9 5.8 6.2 5.9 5.8 6.0 6.2

New York

5.7 5.7 6.6 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.5 5.0 7.0 5.8

North Carolina

5.5 6.1 5.4 5.6 5.4 5.8 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.7

North Dakota

6.5 6.5 6.7 6.4 6.2 6.5 6.6 6.5 6.7 6.6

Ohio

5.2 5.4 5.2 5.3 5.1 5.4 5.1 4.9 5.4 5.3

Oklahoma

6.1 6.0 5.5 5.5 6.0 5.5 5.5 5.3 6.2 6.4

Oregon

6.3 6.2 5.8 6.4 5.7 6.6 6.6 6.2 6.5 6.7

Pennsylvania

5.1 5.2 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.0 4.8 4.7 5.2 5.2

Rhode Island

6.2 7.3 6.6 6.3 6.0 6.4 6.3 5.9 6.7 6.7

South Carolina

6.2 6.4 6.1 5.8 6.3 5.9 5.9 5.5 6.6 6.5

South Dakota

5.9 6.7 6.2 6.0 5.9 5.9 5.9 6.5 6.1 6.0

Tennessee

5.6 5.5 5.4 5.1 5.7 5.7 6.2 5.1 5.9 5.2

Texas

5.7 5.8 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.3

Utah

6.8 6.8 6.6 6.6 6.7 6.2 6.3 6.0 6.6 6.4

Vermont

6.6 6.7 6.9 6.9 6.6 7.1 6.7 6.8 7.5 7.8

Virginia

5.8 5.8 5.6 5.8 5.9 5.7 5.5 5.1 5.8 6.1

Washington

5.8 5.8 5.7 6.0 5.2 5.8 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.6

West Virginia

5.9 6.5 6.4 5.5 5.8 6.6 6.1 5.7 6.3 6.0

Wisconsin

5.1 5.3 5.0 5.3 4.9 5.5 5.2 4.9 5.5 5.6

Wyoming

8.9 8.9 8.1 8.3 7.7 8.5 8.3 8.7 8.9 8.4

Puerto Rico

5.4 4.3 6.3 7.0 5.4 5.0 5.4 5.4 6.1 5.7

Virgin Islands

4.7 5.2 5.4 15.0 7.1 7.5 10.8 7.6 9.5 8.4
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