Union County had the eighth highest unemployment rate of the state's 46 counties during August.

County unemployment figures released today by the South Carolina Employment Security Commission showed Union County with an unemployment rate of 12.5 percent compared to 11.4 percent in July.

The state's unemployment average is 7.6 percent as compared to 7 percent in July making the current rate the highest in 15 years according to state officials.

The increase in unemployment is being blamed on ayoffs in manufacturing and construction which added 14,000 South Carolina residents to unemployment rolls last month. The state had 17,000 fewer construction jobs and 7,000 fewer manufacturing jobs last month than it did a year ago.The national unemployment rate increased to 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent in August.

Neighboring counties to Union have the following rankings and percentage of unemployment: fifth, Chester County, 12.8 percent up from 12.1; seventh, Fairfield County, 12.6 percent, up from 11.8; 19th, Cherokee County, 9.7 percent, up from 9.1; 28th, Spartanburg, 8.1 percent, up from 7.5 and Laurens County, 8 percent, up from 7.2.

Allendale County had the highest ranking with 17.2 percent, up from 15.9 in July while Lexington County had the lowest rate with 5.6 percent, up from 5.2 percent.