S.C. unemployment hits 200,000 The state's unemployment for December was 9.5 percent, up from 8.4 percent in November, the third highest in the country. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R- S.C.) issued a press release upon hearing the news on Tuesday, January 27. He said, in part, "These are not just numbers on a piece of paper. These are real people - our friends, neighbors, family members who are suffering in these difficult economic times... Our economy, both in South Carolina and across the nation, continues to shed jobs at an alarming pace. In December, another 22,000 South Carolinians lost their jobs, and for the first time in our state's history more than 200,000 people are now out of work."

On the state dole About 124,000 S.C. residents are receiving jobless benefits. For the first two weeks of January, the S.C. Employment Commission cut checks each week for $19 million. The state had to borrow $15 million from the federal government in October to fund the program and another $146 million on Dec. 31.

Shared doom and gloom The national January consumer confidence index fell to 37.7 from an upwardly revised 38.6 in December. Consumers who said business conditions were bad rose to 47.9% from 45.8%. The proportion of consumers who expected personal income to rise short- term deteriorated, falling from 12.7% to 10%.

Home sales S.C. home sales fell to their lowest level in five years. Sales in 2005 were 72,811, and last year they were 45,914, a 36 percent drop.

Clemson cuts spending By mid- February, Clemson University President James Barker's special task force on cost saving is expected to report back to Barker on what to do in the aftermath of $17 million in expected state budget cuts. S.C. Governor Mark Sanford recently proposed to reduce Clemson's operating budget by $17 million to $77 million.

Meanwhile, down on the coast On Wednesday, January 21, reporting debts ranging from $50 million to $100 million, Daufuskie Island Properties LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Charleston. The company owns the Daufuskie Island Resort and Breathe Spa, which includes several restaurants, the Melrose Inn, an equestrian center, tennis courts, and two golf courses. In December, the resort and spa operations laid off many of its employees.

Good Fortune

Included in Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" are Stanley, Inc., a Virginia- based firm with 320 employees at its North Charleston location, and Milliken & Co., a textile maker with headquarters in Spartanburg. Milliken is the only S.C.- based company on the list.

Publix prods pricey places Seven townhomes running more than $300 per heated square foot when completed are under construction in the north end of the former Confederate Printing Plant near the corner of Gervais and Huger. The south end of the building is part of Publix grocery. At 2,200 square feet each, the seven units should carry an average price of about $700,000. For now, the pre- opening price is $630,000.

All elephant ears

Southern Living Magazine's January issue recognizes the S.C. State Fair as one of the top 10 in the South. Readers voted the S.C. State Fair No. 8 in the category of Best Festival or Fair. Other winners were Charleston's Spoleto Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

SCANA pass- through For 2008, Lexington County received $20.3 million in property taxes from SCANA, parent of SCE&G. Richland County was paid $22.7 million. The property taxes paid are stated in the SCANA annual report to its shareholders, where the taxes are part of the expense of producing and distributing electric power and natural gas, two industries with government regulated customer rates to achieve the company's targeted return on common equity. Should the target not be met, SCANA will appeal to the Public Service Commission for raised customer rates the next year.

Dubuque, Iowa

When Harold Ross was putting together The New Yorker

magazine in the 1920s, he was asked who was the intended reader. He said he wasn't sure, but he did know it was not the "little ol' lady in Dubuque." Well, today, Dubuque is doing all right. The town just beat Greenville, S.C., for an IBM 1,300- worker service center. The Greenville Area Development Corp., Greenville County's economic development organization, worked with IBM's site consultant and put together an aggressive package. Still, Dubuque won out. Where was Columbia in all this?