GEORGETOWN, S.C. —  The unemployment rate in Georgetown County grew to 15.3 percent in January, after seasonal and school workers found themselves seeking jobs in mid-winter.

The economy in Georgetown is not expected to recover in the near future, as economist Don Schunk said this week during an information session held at Beck Middle School.

The county’s rate in December was 14.6 percent, but the figures increased as more people began seeking work in January, said Sam McClary, economist for the S.C. Employment Security Commission.

The number is coming close to breaking the county record of 15.8 percent, set in January 1997.

The unemployment statistics are not tied to those who are receiving unemployment benefits, but those who are out of work, and still looking for a job, McClary said.

People do not factor into the unemployment numbers when they stop looking for jobs.

Experts said the unemployment number could be higher, if those who have stopped looking for work were counted.

“Many non-faculty staff at local schools and people that lost their jobs in December did not begin searching for a job until after the first of the year,” McClary said.

The state’s unemployment rate jumped to 12.6 percent in January, McClary said.

For the year of 2009, South Carolina was among the highest in the nation for the number of unemployed.

McClary said it is possible that the local unemployment numbers could be higher, since some people have stopped looking for work.

“I expect it to be in the third or fourth quarter before we see job increases,’’ he said.

Higher numbers

Schunk told Georgetown County leaders that as many as ten percentage points can be added to the local unemployment numbers when people who are underemployed or who have stopped looking for work are factored into the equation.

Schunk said there were about 2,900 manufacturing jobs in the county in the early 2000s which has dropped to about 2,200.

The average household income in Georgetown County is about $33,000, the average wage in the manufacturing industry is about $54,000.

The local manufacturing industry has shed hundreds of jobs in the past decade, he said.

He said because of things such as automation, the trend is for larger manufacturing plants with “smaller parking lots.”

Replacing manufacturing jobs with tourism-industry jobs is not the best solution, Schunk said.

He said if 100 manufacturing jobs are replaced with 100 leisure and hospitality jobs, it costs the county about $10 million in annual household income, a net loss of 112 jobs.

Schunk said while the economy is growing at a slow pace, it is growing.

 “We don’t know right now what manufacturing will do, but there are some positive signs,” he said.

He noted the recent Boeing manufacturing plant in North Charleston as an example.

Even if a new job-creating facility locates in another county, it’s still a win for Georgetown County.

That’s because, he said, only about half the workers in Georgetown County actually work inside the county. Nearly 27 percent commute to other counties such as Horry, Charleston and Marion.

“There are no such things as county lines as far as the economy is concerned,” Schunk said. “If a business locates in Horry or Charleston, it’s still a win as long as it’s somewhere close to you.”

Foreclosure rates have also soared in the county, according to Tom Maeser, market analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors.

The current rate of five percent is the highest foreclosure rate in Georgetown County he has ever seen, he said.

The rate used to be around one percent, or even less.

He said the foreclosure rate is tied to the high unemployment rate, because many people have lost their homes due to unemployment.

By Kelly Marshall Fuller

Kfuller@gtowntimes.com