COLUMBIA, SC (WACH) - As South Carolina experiences a fourth straight month of declines in the unemployment rate, experts at USC are giving the public a tool to better understand the numbers.
The state's jobless rate is currently 9.5 percent, the lowest it's been in three years. However, economists at the Darla Moore School of Business at USC say there are "misconceptions" about the true ecomomic picture in this state.
On Thursday, the school highlighted an interactive website they have generated called SC Dash, which collects up-to-date economic data ranging from jobless figures to the latest housing numbers on a state, county and even city level.
School officials hope the general public and businesses looking to locate in South Carolina will use the site to get a better idea of the true economic situation in the Palmetto State.
"We are in the information age. But, sometimes there's too much information," said USC economist Doug Woodward. "What we want this to be is to help guide us through the sea of data that's out there to find something that's really useful and relevant to them so they can understand what's happening in the state's economy and the local economy."
At their annual economic conference in December, USC economists projected South Carolina's economy will see improvement in 2012. At the time they pointed to jobs announcements in the state at Boeing, Bridgestone and Continental as proof that manufacturing is alive and well in the state and the country.
The school hopes its SC Dash website will become "the data that drives development in South Carolina" and be a useful resource to help draw more companies inside the state's borders.
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