Economy
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, South Carolina's gross state product in current dollars was $97 billion in 1997, and $153 billion in 2007. Its per-capita real gross domestic product (GDP) in chained 2000 dollars was $26,772 in 1997, and $28,894 in 2007; that represents 85% of the $31,619 per-capita real GDP for the United States overall in 1997, and 76% of the $38,020 for the U.S. in 2007.
Major agricultural outputs of the state are: tobacco, poultry, cattle, dairy products, soybeans, hay, rice, and swine. Industrial outputs include: textile goods, chemical products, paper products, machinery, automobiles and automotive products and tourism. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of March 2012, South Carolina has 1,852,700 nonfarm jobs of which 12% are in manufacturing, 11.5% are in leisure and hospitality, 19% are in trade, transportation and utilities, and 11.8% are in education and health services. The service sector accounts for 83.7% of the South Carolina economy.
During the economic downturn in the Late 2000s Recession, South Carolina's Unemployment Rate peaked at 12.0% for November and December 2009. It is continuing a steady decline with an unemployment rate of 8.9% as of March 2012.
Many large corporations have moved their locations to South Carolina. South Carolina is a right-to-work state and many businesses utilize staffing agencies to temporarily fill positions. This labor force is appealing to companies because of lower wages and no responsibility of maintaining healthcare benefits for its temporary employees. Domtar, located in Rock Hill is the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in South Carolina. The Fortune 1000 list includes SCANA, Sonoco Products and ScanSource.
South Carolina also benefits from foreign investment. There are 1,950 foreign-owned firms operating in South Carolina employing almost 135,000 people. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) brought 1.06 billion dollars to the state economy in 2010.
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—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)