Local job market booms amid national hiring dip

If you’ve been job hunting in Charleston lately, chances are you’re seeing more “Now Hiring” signs.

 

Despite headlines of a slowing national labor market, workforce experts said the Lowcountry is charging ahead, with jobs pouring in and unemployment among the lowest statewide.

 

“While the national job market has slowed down, South Carolina continues to be a top performer,” said Dr. Bryan Grady, assistant executive director for labor market information at the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. “Between June and July alone, the state added 9,000 jobs. South Carolina has the second-highest rate of job openings in the country and is fifth in hiring per capita.”

 

LOWCOUNTRY LABOR

That job optimism is reflected in Charleston’s numbers.

 

The metro area added 900 jobs between June and July, a 0.2% monthly gain, and posted a 3.8% year-over-year increase – one of the fastest growth rates among comparable metros nationwide, according to SCDEW.

 

In the same period, Charleston’s unemployment rate was 4% in July, slightly below the statewide figure of 4.1% and the national average of 4.2%. Within the tri-county area, Charleston County reported one of the lowest jobless rates in the state at 2.9%, while nearby Williamsburg County stood among the highest at 6.5%. Statewide, employment hit a record high of 2,464,252 workers in July.

 

TOP HIRING FIELDS

Grady said if you browse through the employment boards, one field dominates: health care.

 

“Job postings in the Charleston area are disproportionately in health care, such as registered nurses, health services managers, and radiology technicians,” Grady said.

 

The health care sector is projected to grow over 17% over the next decade, with hospitals already employing more than 200,000 across the state, according to the South Carolina Hospital Association.

 

Other sectors are showing muscle, too. Professional services, food and hospitality, public administration, and support services all added jobs in recent months.

 

INDUSTRIES LOSING JOBS

Not every industry is riding the wave.

 

“On the flip side, there were job losses in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade,” Grady noted. Retail, too, shows signs of slowing – a trend consistent with national struggles in goods-producing sectors.

 

The labor force itself is expanding. Between June 2024 and June 2025, Charleston’s payrolls rose 4.1%, the fifth-highest growth rate of any metro area in the nation, per the SCDEW. That surge is fueled in part by population growth, which continues to bring fresh workers into the region.

 

Turnover, once a top concern for employers, has also eased. “Retention is far less of a challenge than before, as workers are far less likely to job-hop than they did in the red-hot labor market of 2022,” Grady said. For businesses, that stability means more time to invest in training instead of scrambling to rehire.

 

STILL WORKING REMOTE?

For all the talk of digital nomads, remote work hasn’t become a Charleston staple. “Only about 3% of job postings in the area explicitly mention that the position is remote,” Grady said. The opportunities exist, but they’re still the exception rather than the rule.

 

What comes next is harder to predict. “Any region’s economic conditions are in large measure a function of national and international policies and events,” Grady said. “However, Charleston is certainly far outperforming the nation, so a broader economic downturn might not hit the area as hard.”

 

For job seekers in Charleston, the market is alive with possibilities. Opportunity isn’t just knocking – it’s already at the door.