Unemployment continues to rise in South Carolina with about 25,000 new jobless claims

State (Columbia, SC)

May 28--More than half a million people in South Carolina have filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits since testing began for the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 25,000 people made initial claims about being jobless from May 17-23, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce reported Thursday.

Of those claims, 2,166 were issued in Richland County. That's the second-most in the state over the past week, trailing Greenville (2,559) according to DEW.

In Lexington County, DEW reported 1,052 initial unemployment claims were issued. That makes it just one of eight counties with more than 1,000 claims in the past week -- along with Spartanburg (1,893), Horry (1,847), Charleston (1,837), Berkeley (1,057), and Anderson (1,025) counties.

The 24,950 unemployment claims is actually a reduction in the number of cases filed from the previous week, DEW said in a news release.

From May 10-16, 29,446 people filed for unemployment, making this week the sixth recorded decrease since mid March, according to the release.

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In spite of that downward trend, in the past nine weeks 540,545 initial unemployment claims have been filed in South Carolina, DEW said.

"While we see another downward-trending week, the number of people filing initial claims in South Carolina is still high, demonstrating the serious importance of the jobs that are now becoming available in our state as more and more businesses re-open their doors carefully and safely," DEW Executive Director Dan Ellzey said in a news release.

In that time, the agency reports paying more than $1.5 billion in a combination of state unemployment benefits, along with CARES Acts funds, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, and Pandemic Unemployment.

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.

On Wednesday, DEW announced the launch of a third program of the CARES Act to provide financial assistance. 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, according to DEW.

"I think we can all agree that the ideal scenario would be for South Carolinians to have a viable work opportunity, have the personal resources such as child care, health and safety needed to support that opportunity, and be able to accept the work in order to re-establish the stability of their employment income," Ellzey said. "In many cases this will be true. However, as employers and workers adapt to changes and challenges presented with COVID-19, there will be some individuals who will need this extension of benefits until they are ready to rejoin the workforce."

DEW's call center for unemployment claims fields an average of 80,000 calls per week, according to the release. The call center's 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.

"If you are in a position where you know that your layoff was permanent and you need help finding your next job opportunity, please know that our staff and the employees of the SC Works centers throughout the state are here to help," Ellzey said.

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.

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