BERKELEY CO., S.C. (WCBD) – While national surveys show worker confidence in the job market is slipping, Lowcountry leaders say opportunities here remain strong.

A new survey from the New York Federal Reserve found workers gave themselves only about a 45% chance of finding a new job if they lost their current one. That’s the lowest level in the survey’s history. Expectations for higher unemployment a year from now also climbed to nearly 40 percent.

Locally, unemployment rates are showing a different trend. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports Berkeley County’s unemployment rate in July was 4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent the year before. Charleston and Dorchester counties also saw small declines, even as the nationwide rate ticked up.

Officials in Berkeley County say today’s i

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