Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data released

Employment Data Shows Return of Leisure and Hospitality Jobs

Columbia, S.C. – While the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) reports the Employment Situation monthly, DEW’s Labor Market Information (LMI) Division and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) produce a great deal of data. This information is collected using various methods and is published on different timelines. Each quarter, DEW and BLS publish the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). This information covers the count of employment and wages as reported by employers in the State Unemployment Insurance Tax System (SUITS).

How is this different from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) jobs that are reported in the Employment Situation? There are a few key differences:

1. CES is a survey of employers to generate an estimate of jobs and wages, while QCEW is a census, or a complete count of jobs in the state.
2. Because the QCEW is an actual count, and therefore more accurate, it takes longer to gather the information and so the lag time in the reporting is larger. The CES data are released monthly. The information in today’s release is for the fourth quarter of 2021.
3. QCEW data are used when geographic or industrial detail is needed, since CES is not available by county or for groups of employers smaller than broad economic sectors.

While neither includes contractors or the self-employed, as they do not pay unemployment insurance taxes, QCEW data are extremely helpful because it is based on hard numbers that are a reliable count of jobs and help explore employment trends throughout the year.

In last Wednesday’s release, there were 2,138,981 jobs statewide in Q4 2021. This is nearly equal to the pre-pandemic figure two years prior of 2,142,551. Perhaps surprisingly, in that time, the number of establishments statewide increased from 141,360 to 155,780, up 10 percent, with gains concentrated in Professional and Technical Services and Health Care and Social Assistance. In addition, average weekly wages grew from $931 to $1,101, an 18 percent increase.

Leisure and hospitality businesses were particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with demand for travel collapsing and many restaurants and bars facing operating challenges. While recovery has been a rough road, and the difficulty finding workers has introduced complications, the degree to which these businesses have bounced back to serve both residents and tourists alike is impressive.

“In April 2020, Leisure and Hospitality—consisting of Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation and Accommodation and Food Services—were only employing about 155,000 people versus roughly 268,000 before the pandemic. Today, nearly all those jobs have returned, and average weekly wages are up more than 20 percent,” said DEW Research and Planning Administrator Brandi Caldwell, who manages the QCEW team.

The county data in this release showed the largest relative job increases over the past two years were seen in Edgefield (+5.0 percent), Newberry (+4.4 percent), and Kershaw (+3.3 percent). In terms of raw numbers, the three counties with the greatest increases in that time were Anderson (+1,162), Spartanburg (+1,038), and Berkeley (+953). Every county saw average wages increase, and all but four saw the total number of establishments increase.

“This is another indication that our state’s labor market is showing incredible strength as we enter the third year of economic recovery,” said S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director Dan Ellzey. “South Carolina is a great place to start a business, as many thousands of owners have discovered, and our workers are benefiting from the prosperity that is being created.”

“It is worth noting that, if anything, these figures likely understate job creation in South Carolina,” said S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce LMI Director Dr. Bryan Grady. “The volume of data produced by the QCEW program is simply immense, but it does not include data on people who decided to bet on themselves and work as a proprietor or contractor during the pandemic. In our Local Area Unemployment Statistics data, there were an estimated 2,312,616 people working in South Carolina in April, exceeding pre-pandemic highs set in 2019 by nearly 50,000.”

For more information, interested parties can review the attached tables and contact communications@dew.sc.gov with any press inquiries or interview requests for the LMI Division. The full data set is available on our website at https://jobs.scworks.org/qcew. For questions about these data and more, feel free to email lmicustomerservice@dew.sc.gov. The monthly Employment Situation report will be released on Friday, June 17, detailing May workforce data.

 

 

Establishments, Employment, and Average Weekly Wage (AWW) by Industry

Economic Sector	4th Quarter 2021			4th Quarter 2019
	Firms	Jobs	AWW*	Firms	Jobs	AWW*
Total, All Industries	155,780	2,138,931	$1,101	141,360	2,142,551	$931
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	1,262	10,658	$925	1,212	10,540	$795
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	157	1,980	$1,579	137	1,940	$1,375
Utilities	612	15,775	$1,831	492	16,360	$1,623
Construction	13,554	105,685	$1,341	12,977	106,544	$1,154
Manufacturing	7,326	253,903	$1,338	6,480	257,244	$1,193
Wholesale Trade	9,238	76,935	$1,677	8,871	73,379	$1,446
Retail Trade	18,936	259,539	$700	18,126	256,451	$564
Transportation and Warehousing	4,565	91,321	$1,039	4,042	81,758	$921
Information	4,274	30,457	$1,625	3,021	28,256	$1,265
Finance and Insurance	9,380	76,326	$1,655	8,006	71,648	$1,371
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	7,318	32,577	$1,259	6,420	32,768	$999
Professional and Technical Services	23,766	111,057	$1,826	19,637	105,186	$1,571
Management of Companies and Enterprises	1,242	25,100	$2,020	1,085	25,231	$1,675
Administrative and Waste Services	9,612	171,973	$870	8,887	173,013	$707
Educational Services	3,181	173,224	$975	2,872	178,204	$870
Health Care and Social Assistance	14,914	281,055	$1,239	11,471	282,912	$1,057
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	2,338	32,449	$543	2,168	34,099	$449
Accommodation and Food Services	11,752	220,993	$456	11,386	234,360	$364
Other Services, Except Public Administration	10,505	52,825	$869	12,229	55,497	$702
Public Administration	1,848	115,148	$1,086	1,826	117,117	$954

*Average Weekly Wage

Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Establishments, Employment, and Average Weekly Wage (AWW) by County

County	4th Quarter 2021				4th Quarter 2019
	Firms	Jobs	AWW*	Firms		Jobs	AWW*
Total, State	155,780	2,138,931	$1,101	141,360		2,142,551	$931
Abbeville	376	5,491	$908	359		5,613	$807
Aiken	3,288	60,131	$1,152	3,106		61,758	$1,018
Allendale	171	2,413	$1,013	165		2,674	$862
Anderson	4,003	68,829	$968	3,764		67,667	$820
Bamberg	295	3,424	$836	294		3,649	$726
Barnwell	395	4,752	$792	402		5,263	$741
Beaufort	6,764	67,537	$1,014	6,210		68,424	$849
Berkeley	3,899	57,304	$1,216	3,310		56,351	$1,032
Calhoun	264	4,550	$1,070	251		4,758	$903
Charleston	18,854	257,368	$1,240	17,239		260,515	$1,057
Cherokee	906	20,871	$821	879		21,557	$715
Chester	593	9,737	$1,012	556		9,903	$940
Chesterfield	729	14,647	$865	718		15,160	$765
Clarendon	625	6,823	$731	607		6,938	$614
Colleton	796	10,189	$855	777		10,739	$733
Darlington	1,149	20,310	$1,024	1,135		20,546	$938
Dillon	489	9,418	$744	483		9,349	$688
Dorchester	2,966	35,922	$927	2,618		36,445	$786
Edgefield	379	5,596	$989	364		5,331	$849
Fairfield	391	5,514	$1,275	375		5,443	$1,012
Florence	3,465	65,580	$967	3,316		66,761	$841
Georgetown	2,074	24,526	$976	1,931		24,291	$826
Greenville	17,160	279,653	$1,169	15,623		281,409	$998
Greenwood	1,473	27,992	$967	1,435		29,328	$838
Hampton	386	4,577	$1,037	388		4,715	$1,023
Horry	10,631	130,998	$882	9,863		130,669	$723
County	4th Quarter 2021			4th Quarter 2019
	Firms	Jobs	AWW	Firms		Jobs	AWW
Jasper	821	10,014	$1,000	761		10,080	$777
Kershaw	1,397	18,076	$854	1,313		17,498	$752
Lancaster	1,778	25,891	$1,137	1,525		26,212	$981
Laurens	923	20,880	$918	905		21,196	$815
Lee	317	3,749	$837	293		3,724	$749
Lexington	7,791	124,398	$1,034	7,171		125,508	$877
Marion	493	6,895	$787	518		6,916	$677
Marlboro	344	6,553	$1,213	366		6,836	$801
McCormick	188	1,670	$721	143		1,699	$691
Newberry	845	15,068	$868	828		14,434	$759
Oconee	1,831	23,665	$1,038	1,723		24,482	$939
Orangeburg	1,739	27,888	$936	1,695		28,871	$790
Pickens	2,568	36,911	$995	2,379		37,577	$869
Richland	11,335	220,790	$1,132	10,826		225,793	$971
Saluda	289	4,832	$812	281		4,783	$793
Spartanburg	7,147	149,492	$1,097	6,725		148,454	$923
Sumter	2,174	36,316	$954	2,097		37,270	$801
Union	463	7,669	$937	456		8,344	$760
Williamsburg	628	7,781	$999	621		8,852	$843
York	7,392	101,767	$1,117	6,526		102,205	$939

*Average Weekly Wage

Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics