COLUMBIA, S.C. — The number of people filing first-time unemployment claims in the state fell again this week, but remain well above pre-coronavirus levels.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Work Force (DEW) announced Thursday for the claim week ending September 12, 2020, the number of South Carolinians who filed their initial claim for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits is 4,283, a decrease of 830 initial claims from the week prior. This brings the initial claims total to 739,643 received since mid-March.
“Initial claims had another significant decline for claim week of September 6 – September 12, decreasing 830 claims from the week prior. While we are still looking at initial claims that are double what they were pre-COVID (2,093 for claim week ending March 14, 2020 and 1,889 for claim week ending March 7, 2020), our state continues to bounce back,” said executive director, Dan Ellzey.
“We began this weekly initial claims press releases at the beginning of COVID-19 to help push communication in a timely manner and provide updates on the impact of the pandemic on South Carolina’s economy and workforce. We will continue to provide this data, but starting next week it will be provided on our website rather than in a press release,” continued Ellzey.
“Starting September 24, 2020, you will find a data dashboard displayed on the Data and Statistics page of our website, dew.sc.gov/tools-resources/data-statistics. Some examples of the visuals are below. There will be weekly updates including the total benefits paid with program breakdowns, initial claims numbers, and the map with a breakdown of initial claims data by county that has been in the weekly release. We will also update the state’s unemployment rate and employment numbers following our monthly release of this information. We want to continue being transparent, and a self-service dashboard is a great tool for anyone who wants to find this information,” concluded Ellzey.
Payout data
From March 15, 2020 to September 15, 2020, the agency has paid more than $4 billion total, including, regular state UI benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (for the self-employed and others), the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ($600 per week) program, the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (extension of benefits for 13 weeks) program, Extended Benefits (Additional 16 weeks of benefits after PEUC).
SC DEW Call center hours (1-866-831-1724) Monday & Tuesday: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Wednesday - Friday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.;Closed Saturdays (Due to low call volume)
