Jobless S.C.'s unemployment rate jumped to 7.0 percent in July, up almost a full percentage point from June's 6.1 percent. N.C.'s unemployment rate for July was 6.6 percent. The national unemployment rate for July was 5.7 percent. The lowest unemployment rate in S.C. for July was Lexington County's 5.2 percent. The highest was in Allendale County at 15.9 percent.

CFOs and CPAs agree According to a new study by two N.C. organizations, UNC's Kenan- Flagler Business School and the Durham- based American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, chief financial officers and top accountants agree the nation's economy is already in a recession. Only 10 percent shared optimism over the economy.

Wachovia payback Charlotte- based Wachovia Securities will buy back $9 billion of auction- rate securities, $5.7 billion of which are held by individuals, small businesses, and charities. Auction- rate securities are debt investments with interest rates that are determined and reset at weekly or monthly auctions. They are issued by municipalities, student- loan agencies, closed- end funds and the like. Wachovia agreed to buy back the $9 billion in auction- rate securities after negotiations with the Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulators. Wachovia marketed the securities as cash alternatives, and customers were led to believe they could get their money back in less than a day if they chose to redeem the securities. Wachovia quit making good on that offer last February.

Meet Dr. Harris Pastides USC's new president, Dr. Harris Pastides, will speak on his plans for the university's role in the local economy on Wednesday morning, September 3, at 7:30 in Seawell's on Rosewood Drive. Individual breakfast tickets are $30. For more information, call Katherine Yon at the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, 733.1152.

Not since Joe Namath's Jets coach Weeb Ewbank... ...has such an entertaining name surfaced in sports. Humpy Wheeler, formerly with Speedway Motor Sports, is pitching a made- for- television racing series where the stock cars run on a modified short track. Watch for further announcements by Humpy Wheeler, if only to appreciate the name.

Construction According to the Carolinas Associated General Contractors, N.C. construction activity dropped 2.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008. In S.C., the drop was 2.1 percent.

Charleston's missing... ...what Columbia has never had: a top- tier cooking school. The chefs and restaurateurs in Charleston are complaining about the lack of talented, qualified cooks. And the leaders in the restaurant field feel they are paying more for their qualified cooks than they should because there are too few good ones. Before Providence, Rhode Island- based Johnson & Wales University moved its branch campus to Charlotte in 2002, the school had 1,497 cooking students, more than twice the combined student population of the two culinary schools currently in Charleston, the Art Institute of Charleston and Trident Technical College.

Charlotte's increasing... ...what Columbia's missing: intrastate passenger rail service ticket sales. In N.C., the Piedmont rail route between Charlotte and Raleigh experienced a 43 percent gain in passengers for July compared with the same month last year. While national passenger rail revenue increased by almost 19 percent, N.C.'s Charlotte- Raleigh train traffic saw its July revenues rise by 48 percent. The Piedmont is run by Amtrak. The national passenger train service carried more passengers in July, 2.75 million people, than any month in its 37- year history. In S.C., there is no passenger rail service connecting Charleston and Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg, and there is no passenger rail service between Columbia and Charlotte.

Best practices at the best places A partnership among the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, the S.C. Society for Human Resource Management's S.C. State Council, and SC Biz News, operator of SCJobMarket.com, recently issued its 2008 "Best Places to Work in South Carolina." Twenty- eight companies made the cut to include three in the Midlands: First Community Bank in Lexington, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank in Columbia, and Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia.