Initial unemployment claims in SC dip to lowest levels since start of pandemic
New unemployment claims in South Carolina have hit their lowest point since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Department of Employment and Workforce announced Thursday.
DEW reported 8,909 initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week of July 26-Aug. 1, the first time that figure has dropped below 10,000 since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in mid-March and the economy began to shut down.
“People are reentering the workplace as employers find new ways to provide innovative and safe working conditions. With the latest restrictions removed last week on theaters, sports venues and concerts, the hope in the coming weeks is this will give a needed boost to many of our state’s desirable attractions and the talented hospitality-driven employees who work there,” DEW executive director Dan Ellzey said in a statement.
Still, over the past five months, DEW has reported 706,528 initial claims and paid out $3.68 billion through unemployment benefits and the CARES act passed by Congress. Key provisions of that act, including an extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits, have expired, however.
Richland County saw the largest jump in initial unemployment claims last week, with 804. Lexington County reported 492, the fourth most in the state.
The most recent data from the DEW and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, from June, puts South Carolina’s total unemployment rate at 8.4%, a decline from the spike of 12.8% in April and 12.4% in May but still well above pre-pandemic levels.
Data estimating unemployment rates by neighborhood, published by The New York Times on Thursday, projected the percentage of those unemployed at upwards of 20% in certain areas of Columbia, Charleston and Spartanburg.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 4:59 PM.
