COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Employment and Work Force reports that 16,959 South Carolinians filed initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the claim week ending June 27, 2020. That number is a decrease of 139 initial claims from the week prior. This brings the initial claims total to 635,688 received since mid-March.
Richland County had 1,554 new claims; Lexington 858; Greenville had 1,557; Charleston, 1,141; and Spartanburg had 974.
“While the number of people seeking first time unemployment assistance fell, the state is not seeing the movement week-over-week for which we hoped,” said Dan Ellzey, Executive Director, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.
“There are still a lot of questions and unknowns as to what the future will hold, how long this economic stall will go on and what the true magnitude of the impact will truly be. However, what we know is when the virus initially caused the economic shut down in March, job cuts were highly concentrated in the restaurant, travel, hospitality and retail industries. While those industries are still feeling the residual impact, the effect is continuing to spread to other sectors like professional services, manufacturing and health care as sustained weeks of hardship drag on,” continued Ellzey.
“Yesterday our agency announced the launch of the Extended Benefits (EB) program, which offers up to an additional 10 weeks of UI benefits after a claimant exhausts their Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). We will continue to provide support through this and all of the UI programs, as well as our numerous reemployment services. We will maintain our focus on the work that’s in front of us and help as many people as possible through this crisis,” concluded Ellzey.
In testimony in front of a S.C. House COVID recovery committee this week, Ellzey highlighted some of the same issues.
Ellzey said they know the claim system can be difficult to use.
“But if you're not used to computers, if you don't read well, if you don't have any assistance, then it can become a difficult thing to get through. So, how many problems did we have? Well, a lot of them, but we had 618,000 claims.>
He continued, saying the state had to close 48 work centers and 150 public library connection points due to the virus, leading thousands of people to use DEW phone lines.
The increase on help by phone demand led DEW to hire roughly 600 new people.
“The problem is we're going from 50 to 650, is that a bulk of people on the phones, don't know the answers. So, they're being trained, and people are being trained today, and will be continuously trained, as we go through it,” Ellzey explained.
Ellzey said the Department needed to prepare now, in case of a second wave.
“We’ve got to be better in January, our agency cannot go through-- I do not think we can physically live it, another situation like we have been in since March 15th,” the Director told the Committee.
Ellzey said DEW was looking at short-term and long-term reforms to the online claim processing system and call center.
SC DEW response:
- From March 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020, the agency has paid more than $2.72 Billion in a combination of South Carolina UI benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (for the self-employed and others), the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ($600 per week) program and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (extension of benefits for 13 weeks) program.
Call center hours Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., 1-866-831-1724.
PLEASE NOTE: The Call Center will be closed July 3 & July 4 in observance of Independence Day.
