Business Employment Dynamics in South Carolina — Second Quarter 2025

From March 2025 to June 2025, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in South Carolina were 126,572, while gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 112,729, 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 13,843 jobs in the private sector during the second quarter of 2025. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 9,862. (See chart 1.)

Chart 1. Line chart of gross job gains and losses in South Carolina, June 2020 to June 2025, seasonally adjusted. An accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses in South Carolina, June 2020–June 2025, seasonally adjusted
Period	Gross job losses	Gross job gains
Jun 2020	243,341	86,374
Sep 2020	97,175	144,697
Dec 2020	88,478	135,137
Mar 2021	103,171	110,599
Jun 2021	109,577	109,322
Sep 2021	104,168	124,570
Dec 2021	93,545	139,152
Mar 2022	110,491	128,145
Jun 2022	111,248	118,984
Sep 2022	103,596	133,357
Dec 2022	115,631	129,024
Mar 2023	110,148	126,558
Jun 2023	123,067	120,052
Sep 2023	106,570	124,783
Dec 2023	100,487	118,074
Mar 2024	119,862	123,985
Jun 2024	114,953	117,273
Sep 2024	112,351	119,009
Dec 2024	113,949	124,330
Mar 2025	107,863	117,725
Jun 2025	126,572	112,729

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 second quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 6.6 percent of private-sector employment in South Carolina; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 6.0 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 105,847 jobs in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 16,060 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 20,725 jobs, an increase of 2,649 jobs from the previous quarter.

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Private-sector gross job losses as a percent of employment, United States and South Carolina, June 2020–June 2025, seasonally adjusted
Period	South Carolina	United States
Jun 2020	14.4	16.8
Sep 2020	5.9	5.9
Dec 2020	5.2	5.7
Mar 2021	6.0	5.5
Jun 2021	6.3	5.9
Sep 2021	6.0	6.0
Dec 2021	5.3	5.4
Mar 2022	6.1	5.5
Jun 2022	6.1	6.2
Sep 2022	5.6	5.9
Dec 2022	6.2	5.9
Mar 2023	5.9	5.5
Jun 2023	6.5	5.9
Sep 2023	5.7	5.9
Dec 2023	5.3	5.7
Mar 2024	6.3	5.5
Jun 2024	6.0	5.9
Sep 2024	5.9	5.8
Dec 2024	5.9	5.7
Mar 2025	5.5	5.4
Jun 2025	6.6	6.0

Gross job gains

In the second quarter of 2025, gross job gains represented 5.8 percent of private-sector employment in South Carolina; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.7 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 89,453 in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 895 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 23,276 jobs gained in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 4,101 jobs from the previous quarter.

View Chart Data

Chart 3. Private-sector gross job gains as a percent of employment, United States and South Carolina, June 2020–June 2025, seasonally adjusted
Period	South Carolina	United States
Jun 2020	5.1	4.8
Sep 2020	8.8	9.4
Dec 2020	8.0	7.4
Mar 2021	6.4	7.0
Jun 2021	6.3	6.8
Sep 2021	7.1	7.3
Dec 2021	7.9	7.7
Mar 2022	7.1	6.7
Jun 2022	6.6	6.5
Sep 2022	7.2	6.9
Dec 2022	7.0	6.3
Mar 2023	6.8	6.3
Jun 2023	6.4	6.2
Sep 2023	6.6	5.9
Dec 2023	6.2	6.0
Mar 2024	6.5	5.9
Jun 2024	6.1	5.8
Sep 2024	6.2	5.8
Dec 2024	6.4	5.9
Mar 2025	6.1	5.6
Jun 2025	5.8	5.7

Industries

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in 6 of the 11 published industry sectors in South Carolina in the second quarter of 2025. Professional and business services had the largest over-the-quarter net job decrease, with a loss of 7,799 jobs. This was the result of 29,260 gross job losses and 21,461 gross job gains. The leisure and hospitality industry had a net loss of 5,739 jobs. Education and health services showed a net gain of 1,920 jobs, the largest gain of any sector in the state. South Carolina’s construction industry sector had a net gain of 1,007 jobs.

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 Third Quarter 2025 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 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.

Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, South Carolina, seasonally adjusted
Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
Category	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	117,273	119,009	124,330	117,725	112,729	6.1	6.2	6.4	6.1	5.8
At expanding establishments	88,842	97,660	101,077	90,348	89,453	4.6	5.1	5.2	4.7	4.6
At opening establishments	28,431	21,349	23,253	27,377	23,276	1.5	1.1	1.2	1.4	1.2
Gross job losses	114,953	112,351	113,949	107,863	126,572	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.5	6.6
At contracting establishments	98,577	91,934	84,395	89,787	105,847	5.1	4.8	4.4	4.6	5.5
At closing establishments	16,376	20,417	29,554	18,076	20,725	0.9	1.1	1.5	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	2,320	6,658	10,381	9,862	-13,843	0.1	0.3	0.5	0.6	-0.8
Construction
Gross job gains	9,118	8,115	10,297	9,853	9,209	7.8	6.8	8.6	8.1	7.4
At expanding establishments	6,809	6,581	8,253	7,577	7,226	5.8	5.5	6.9	6.2	5.8
At opening establishments	2,309	1,534	2,044	2,276	1,983	2.0	1.3	1.7	1.9	1.6
Gross job losses	6,679	7,848	8,045	7,711	8,202	5.7	6.6	6.7	6.3	6.6
At contracting establishments	5,645	6,227	5,038	5,581	6,330	4.8	5.2	4.2	4.6	5.1
At closing establishments	1,034	1,621	3,007	2,130	1,872	0.9	1.4	2.5	1.7	1.5
Net employment change (2)	2,439	267	2,252	2,142	1,007	2.1	0.2	1.9	1.8	0.8
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	9,182	6,966	7,225	7,853	8,064	3.4	2.6	2.7	3.0	3.0
At expanding establishments	7,499	6,431	6,356	6,480	6,661	2.8	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.5
At opening establishments	1,683	535	869	1,373	1,403	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.5
Gross job losses	7,789	8,487	8,193	7,968	8,162	2.9	3.2	3.1	3.0	3.1
At contracting establishments	6,917	7,491	6,954	7,311	6,825	2.6	2.8	2.6	2.8	2.6
At closing establishments	872	996	1,239	657	1,337	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.2	0.5
Net employment change (2)	1,393	-1,521	-968	-115	-98	0.5	-0.6	-0.4	0.0	-0.1
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	4,351	3,191	3,833	4,829	3,754	5.2	3.8	4.6	5.7	4.5
At expanding establishments	3,243	2,770	3,182	3,921	2,942	3.9	3.3	3.8	4.6	3.5
At opening establishments	1,108	421	651	908	812	1.3	0.5	0.8	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	3,652	3,519	3,711	3,587	4,012	4.4	4.2	4.4	4.3	4.8
At contracting establishments	2,991	2,824	2,761	2,751	3,117	3.6	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.7
At closing establishments	661	695	950	836	895	0.8	0.8	1.1	1.0	1.1
Net employment change (2)	699	-328	122	1,242	-258	0.8	-0.4	0.2	1.4	-0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	14,896	14,368	13,311	16,158	14,344	5.5	5.3	5.0	6.0	5.3
At expanding establishments	11,909	12,649	11,536	13,370	12,386	4.4	4.7	4.3	5.0	4.6
At opening establishments	2,987	1,719	1,775	2,788	1,958	1.1	0.6	0.7	1.0	0.7
Gross job losses	14,136	15,267	15,164	12,001	16,392	5.3	5.6	5.7	4.5	6.0
At contracting establishments	12,645	13,527	12,601	10,494	14,483	4.7	5.0	4.7	3.9	5.3
At closing establishments	1,491	1,740	2,563	1,507	1,909	0.6	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	760	-899	-1,853	4,157	-2,048	0.2	-0.3	-0.7	1.5	-0.7
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,358	4,780	5,730	4,257	4,077	5.4	6.0	7.1	5.4	5.2
At expanding establishments	3,487	4,394	4,954	3,378	3,469	4.3	5.5	6.1	4.3	4.4
At opening establishments	871	386	776	879	608	1.1	0.5	1.0	1.1	0.8
Gross job losses	5,859	3,938	5,125	5,578	5,797	7.3	4.9	6.3	7.0	7.4
At contracting establishments	5,157	3,276	3,950	4,931	5,193	6.4	4.1	4.9	6.2	6.6
At closing establishments	702	662	1,175	647	604	0.9	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-1,501	842	605	-1,321	-1,720	-1.9	1.1	0.8	-1.6	-2.2
Information
Gross job gains	1,996	1,558	1,146	1,683	1,751	7.1	5.4	4.0	6.1	6.3
At expanding establishments	1,263	1,211	770	1,075	1,060	4.5	4.2	2.7	3.9	3.8
At opening establishments	733	347	376	608	691	2.6	1.2	1.3	2.2	2.5
Gross job losses	1,471	1,524	2,428	1,782	1,396	5.2	5.3	8.6	6.5	5.1
At contracting establishments	1,153	1,064	1,604	1,504	1,044	4.1	3.7	5.7	5.5	3.8
At closing establishments	318	460	824	278	352	1.1	1.6	2.9	1.0	1.3
Net employment change (2)	525	34	-1,282	-99	355	1.9	0.1	-4.6	-0.4	1.2
Financial activities
Gross job gains	6,516	6,672	6,482	6,188	6,989	5.6	5.6	5.4	5.1	5.8
At expanding establishments	4,457	5,236	4,673	4,408	5,436	3.8	4.4	3.9	3.6	4.5
At opening establishments	2,059	1,436	1,809	1,780	1,553	1.8	1.2	1.5	1.5	1.3
Gross job losses	5,068	5,913	5,791	5,637	6,246	4.3	5.0	4.9	4.7	5.2
At contracting establishments	3,988	4,552	3,817	4,210	4,927	3.4	3.8	3.2	3.5	4.1
At closing establishments	1,080	1,361	1,974	1,427	1,319	0.9	1.2	1.7	1.2	1.1
Net employment change (2)	1,448	759	691	551	743	1.3	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.6
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	22,836	28,231	25,211	25,140	21,461	7.3	9.0	8.0	7.9	6.8
At expanding establishments	16,266	22,964	19,536	18,722	16,688	5.2	7.3	6.2	5.9	5.3
At opening establishments	6,570	5,267	5,675	6,418	4,773	2.1	1.7	1.8	2.0	1.5
Gross job losses	26,189	21,651	26,763	20,612	29,260	8.4	6.9	8.5	6.5	9.2
At contracting establishments	21,464	17,287	19,177	16,228	25,352	6.9	5.5	6.1	5.1	8.0
At closing establishments	4,725	4,364	7,586	4,384	3,908	1.5	1.4	2.4	1.4	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-3,353	6,580	-1,552	4,528	-7,799	-1.1	2.1	-0.5	1.4	-2.4
Education and health services
Gross job gains	17,042	15,911	14,418	14,433	14,610	6.2	5.7	5.1	5.1	5.1
At expanding establishments	13,164	12,132	11,558	10,736	11,380	4.8	4.3	4.1	3.8	4.0
At opening establishments	3,878	3,779	2,860	3,697	3,230	1.4	1.4	1.0	1.3	1.1
Gross job losses	11,061	13,948	13,239	11,821	12,690	4.0	5.0	4.7	4.2	4.5
At contracting establishments	9,289	11,338	9,096	10,184	10,154	3.4	4.1	3.2	3.6	3.6
At closing establishments	1,772	2,610	4,143	1,637	2,536	0.6	0.9	1.5	0.6	0.9
Net employment change (2)	5,981	1,963	1,179	2,612	1,920	2.2	0.7	0.4	0.9	0.6
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	21,331	23,365	30,181	20,923	22,869	7.5	8.4	10.6	7.3	8.1
At expanding establishments	16,974	18,589	24,993	16,038	17,721	6.0	6.7	8.8	5.6	6.3
At opening establishments	4,357	4,776	5,188	4,885	5,148	1.5	1.7	1.8	1.7	1.8
Gross job losses	26,917	25,324	19,744	24,903	28,608	9.5	9.1	6.9	8.7	10.1
At contracting establishments	24,427	20,379	15,439	21,758	23,734	8.6	7.3	5.4	7.6	8.4
At closing establishments	2,490	4,945	4,305	3,145	4,874	0.9	1.8	1.5	1.1	1.7
Net employment change (2)	-5,586	-1,959	10,437	-3,980	-5,739	-2.0	-0.7	3.7	-1.4	-2.0
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	4,571	4,451	4,835	4,906	4,560	7.7	7.3	7.8	8.0	7.3
At expanding establishments	3,022	3,498	3,830	3,475	3,573	5.1	5.7	6.2	5.7	5.7
At opening establishments	1,549	953	1,005	1,431	987	2.6	1.6	1.6	2.3	1.6
Gross job losses	4,583	3,937	4,543	4,133	4,345	7.6	6.4	7.4	6.8	6.9
At contracting establishments	3,551	3,123	2,980	3,469	3,461	5.9	5.1	4.9	5.7	5.5
At closing establishments	1,032	814	1,563	664	884	1.7	1.3	2.5	1.1	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-12	514	292	773	215	0.1	0.9	0.4	1.2	0.4
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. (3) Except public administration.

Table 2. Private-sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted
Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
Category	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025
United States(1)	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.4	6.0
Alabama	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.5	5.6	5.9	5.3	5.6	5.6
Alaska	10.2	8.0	10.3	10.0	9.9	9.6	9.6	9.5	8.1	10.3
Arizona	5.6	6.4	6.1	5.8	5.3	6.5	5.7	5.9	5.3	6.3
Arkansas	5.3	5.5	5.8	5.1	5.1	5.7	5.2	4.8	5.1	5.5
California	6.2	6.3	6.7	6.0	6.6	6.9	6.2	6.4	6.2	6.7
Colorado	6.6	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.4	5.8	6.4	6.5	6.8	7.1
Connecticut	5.8	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.3	5.8
Delaware	5.8	6.8	6.1	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.4	6.3	5.3	6.1
District of Columbia	5.1	4.9	5.0	4.8	5.7	5.4	5.0	5.5	5.8	5.9
Florida	6.1	6.5	6.0	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.7	6.2	5.5	5.8
Georgia	5.9	5.8	6.0	5.5	5.5	5.7	6.1	5.4	5.7	5.6
Hawaii	5.2	5.7	5.3	4.9	4.8	5.6	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.2
Idaho	7.5	7.1	8.2	7.3	7.7	7.2	7.5	6.8	7.3	7.2
Illinois	5.1	4.9	5.1	5.0	5.2	5.1	5.0	5.1	5.0	5.2
Indiana	5.2	5.3	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.5	5.3	5.1	5.2	5.6
Iowa	5.6	5.3	5.6	5.8	5.6	5.8	6.0	5.6	5.5	5.8
Kansas	5.9	5.3	5.9	5.5	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.4	6.3
Kentucky	5.3	5.4	5.3	5.2	5.0	5.8	5.4	5.5	4.8	5.4
Louisiana	5.8	6.1	6.2	5.6	5.5	6.2	5.8	5.5	5.6	6.3
Maine	7.2	6.2	7.0	7.4	7.2	7.1	7.1	7.1	6.3	7.4
Maryland	7.1	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.7	5.9	6.1	5.9	5.7	6.2
Massachusetts	5.7	5.0	5.3	5.0	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.1	5.8
Michigan	5.7	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.8	5.4	5.8	5.9	5.3	5.5
Minnesota	5.7	5.1	5.5	5.1	5.8	5.2	5.8	5.1	5.5	5.5
Mississippi	5.7	6.3	6.3	5.7	6.3	6.3	5.7	6.2	6.1	6.5
Missouri	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.5	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.2	6.1
Montana	7.9	7.2	8.4	8.0	7.7	7.6	8.0	7.8	7.5	8.3
Nebraska	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.3	5.5
Nevada	5.8	6.2	6.1	5.4	6.2	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.9	6.3
New Hampshire	6.1	5.6	6.3	6.5	6.3	6.0	6.7	5.9	6.1	6.7
New Jersey	5.9	5.4	6.0	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.4	5.5
New Mexico	6.1	6.3	6.1	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.2	5.9	5.8	6.0
New York	5.8	5.7	5.7	6.6	5.9	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.0	7.0
North Carolina	5.6	5.5	6.1	5.4	5.6	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.5	5.4
North Dakota	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.7	6.4	6.6	6.5	6.6	6.5	6.7
Ohio	5.2	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.1	4.9	5.4
Oklahoma	5.7	6.1	6.0	5.5	5.5	6.4	5.5	5.5	5.3	6.2
Oregon	6.0	6.3	6.2	5.8	6.4	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.2	6.5
Pennsylvania	4.9	5.1	5.2	5.0	4.9	5.2	5.0	4.8	4.7	5.2
Rhode Island	6.6	6.2	7.3	6.6	6.3	6.7	6.4	6.3	5.9	6.7
South Carolina	6.1	6.2	6.4	6.1	5.8	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.5	6.6
South Dakota	6.0	5.9	6.7	6.2	6.0	6.2	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.1
Tennessee	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.4	5.1	5.6	5.7	6.2	5.1	5.9
Texas	5.4	5.7	5.8	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.1	5.4
Utah	6.5	6.8	6.8	6.6	6.6	6.9	6.2	6.3	6.0	6.6
Vermont	6.7	6.6	6.7	6.9	6.9	7.4	7.1	6.7	6.8	7.5
Virginia	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.5	5.1	5.8
Washington	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.7	6.0	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.5	5.4
West Virginia	7.0	5.9	6.5	6.4	5.5	6.7	6.6	6.1	5.7	6.3
Wisconsin	5.3	5.1	5.3	5.0	5.3	5.6	5.5	5.2	4.9	5.5
Wyoming	8.2	8.9	8.9	8.1	8.3	8.8	8.5	8.3	8.7	8.9
Puerto Rico	5.5	5.4	4.3	6.3	7.0	4.9	5.0	5.4	5.4	6.1
Virgin Islands	4.9	4.7	5.2	5.4	15.0	5.7	7.5	10.8	7.6	9.5
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, March 04, 2026

Southeast Information Office

Business Employment Dynamics in South Carolina — Second Quarter 2025