COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's jobless rate hit 8 percent in October, the highest in 25 years.

The state Employment Security Commission said Friday that 16,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed in October. The jobless rate last month was up from 7.3 percent in September.

The nation rate was 6.5 percent.

Employment Commission executive director Ted Halley says there
were 4,100 more jobs in October than in September, but more people
were looking for work.

Meanwhile, the state fund used to pay unemployment benefits is
being depleted by the high numbers of people out of work. The state
has received a $15 million loan from the U.S. Labor Department to
supplement the remaining $64 million in the unemployment insurance
trust fund.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)