COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (SC DEW) released the number of unemployment claims for the week ending March 21, and they show the severe impact of the coronavirus on jobs statewide.
The advance figures for South Carolina intrastate initial claims was 31,054, an increase of approximately 1600% from the previous week’s count of 1,996. This means that there were 31,054 individuals who both live and work in the state of South Carolina who filed an initial claim during that week.
The map below shows the numbers of those filing unemployment claims.
- Horry County had 5,258 new claims
- Richland County: 2,476
- Lexington County: 1,487
- Charleston County: 4,183
- Greenville County: 3,265
The SC DEW process is now entirely online, because of health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic, there is no "in-person" process for filing unemployment insurance claims.
There are many exceptions to the unemployment insurance process due to federal and state assistance. SC DEW will be updating the website dew.sc.gov/covid-hub daily to explain these.
The agency has also set up a Frequently Asked Questions page on the website and on the YouTube channel SC DEW.