MYRTLE BEACH --The Grand Strand area was the state's leader in job growth during the first nine months of the year at 2.9 percent, but it also saw the biggest drops in home construction, according to a report released Monday by University of South Carolina economists. The national economy is in for a rough ride 2008, but data don't indicate a recession, said a university research economist.

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GREENVILLE -- The state's economy will be sluggish in the coming year, and that poses unique challenges for the Upstate, including Greenville and Spartanburg, University of South Carolina economists said during a conference Monday. Greenville is among the state's metropolitan areas posting the fastest job growth in 2007, according to a report that research economists Doug Woodward and Paulo Guimaraes presented to business leaders.

Read more at The Greenville News...

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina’s business climate has grabbed some attention of late. The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranked South Carolina eighth best on its Small Business Survival Index. According to SBE Council President and CEO Karen Kerrigan, South Carolina benefits from no death tax, no individual and corporate alternative minimum taxes, being a right-to-work state and low unemployment taxes.

Read more at The (Columbia) State...

COLUMBIA -- Get ready for a surge of ads and direct mail — and in some cases, visits and phone calls — from bankers pitching loans to make your life or business easier if you have great credit. On the flip side, any customers falling behind on payments can expect more pressure to pay up. And startup businesses will find it harder to get loans and credit.

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BLUFFTON -- As Bluffton considers growing by another 98 acres, some officials wonder if fundamental changes in laws governing development are needed to stop what many in the area see as uncontrolled sprawl. Owners of two parcels are being asked to be annexed their land into Bluffton from Beaufort County. So many are asking why would being part of Bluffton be better than being part of Beaufort County?

Read more at The (Hilton Head) Island Packet...

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina’s economic health is threatened in the coming year as the old problem of declining manufacturing meets a new reality of stalling retail sales and a deteriorating construction market. And the woes of the housing market are spreading into finance, witnessed by Bank of America’s announcement in November that it will close a 105-employee mortgage bundling office in Florence in early January.

Read more at The (Columbia) State...