If the federal government can avoid the "fiscal cliff," South Carolina should expect stable growth across a range of industries in 2013, according to economists speaking Wednesday at the 32nd Annual Economic Outlook Conference at USC-Columbia.
That growth, the economists said, would mean greater income and better jobs for South Carolinians, GSA Business reported.
Job creation is expected to grow 1.2 percent in 2013, according to forecasts presented by Doug Woodward and Joseph Von Nessen, economists in the university's business school research division.
Last year they predicted employment growth of 2 percent, which came very close to South Carolina’s performance of a 1.8 percent increase based on a comparison of October 2011 and 2012 employment figures, GSA reported.
Von Nessen, who said South Carolina has seen steady growth in 2012, expects to see growth in the coming year from industries that extend beyond manufacturing.
“Though manufacturing has largely been responsible for South Carolina’s economic recovery, we’ve started to see other industries expand this year, and we expect more diverse growth in 2013,” Von Nessen said.
According to GSA's report, gains are expected in transportation and warehousing, health care, education and even construction, an industry that has been hard hit during the recession.
“Residential construction turned a corner in 2012,” Von Nessen said. “Sales activity is up and house prices are rising again, which suggests a better year for housing ahead.”
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