Weekly unemployment claims rise in South Carolina for first time in two months
For the first time in two months, single-week unemployment claims rose in South Carolina.
Nearly 23,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits last week, snapping a seven-week trend, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce said Thursday.
“Although we were hoping for the eighth week in reported decreases in South Carolina, that is not the case,”DEW Executive Director Dan Ellzey said in a news release.
From May 31-June 6, there were 22,734 people that filed for unemployment for the first time since testing for COVID-19 began, according to DEW.
That was a rise from the week of May 24-30, when 18,986 unemployment claims were made in South Carolina.
Of those claims, 1,858 were issued in Richland County. That’s the second-most in the state over the past week, trailing Greenville (1,993) according to DEW.
In Lexington County, DEW reported 1,015 initial unemployment claims were issued. That makes it just one of six counties with more than 1,000 claims in the past week — along with Spartanburg (1,803), Charleston (1,501), and Horry (1,161) counties.
Overall in the past 12 weeks, the total number of initial claims has risen to 582,265, according to the release.
In that time, the agency reports paying more than $2.1 billion in a combination of state unemployment benefits, along with CARES Acts funds, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
The FPUC program, funded by the federal CARES Act, gives $600 extra per week to South Carolinians who previously qualified for unemployment in the state, on top of the state benefits they already receive. The PUA program expands unemployment benefits to cover workers who otherwise wouldn’t qualify, or who were deeply affected financially by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation provides 13 additional weeks of state unemployment insurance benefits after the 20 weeks provided by South Carolina law have expired.
“Our agency will continue to support those who have lost their job while helping connect individuals with workforce opportunities in their area. Our employees are dedicated to this mission,” Ellzey said.
DEW’s call center number is 866-831-1724, and it’s open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday are the busiest days at the call center, while Saturday sees the lowest volume, according to the release.
The state labor agency said it is handling an unprecedented number of new claims. It’s a historic unemployment crisis that is expected to drain the state’s unemployment trust fund and require South Carolina to seek a federal loan, officials previously said.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 8:58 AM.
