South Carolina has recorded a fall in its unemployment rate for the first time in more than a year and a half, showing signs of easing recession.

The State Employment Security Commission said on Friday that South Carolina's joblessness rate stood at 11.8 per cent in July as compared with 12.1 per cent in the month of June. It is the lowest rate recorded since Jan. 2008.

On the other hand, North Carolina's joblessness rate remained unchanged at 11 per cent in July.

The national unemployment rate was 9.4 per cent in July, down from 9.5 per cent in June.

Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo, said, "We're still going to have to endure another six to nine months of pretty tough conditions."

South Carolina's unemployment rate in July was the 5th highest in the country.

The state's labor force fell about 10,000 in July to around 2,190,000. The number of actual unemployed people dropped around 7,700 people to about 258,000.

Most of South Carolina's 30,800 lost jobs disappeared from the govt. and the education services as schools closed for the summer.

Jobs related to tourism plus hospitality industry soared for the 5th consecutive month. However, figures were still down by about 10,000 as compared with previous year.