COLUMBIA, S.C. — The total number of people who've filed for unemployment since the virus outbreak began in South Carolina now tops 400,000, according to the newest information from the state.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce released its latest numbers Thursday morning. They show another 65,159 people filed initial claims for unemployment this week. While that number is still near the record highs seen in recent weeks, it is a decline of 7,957 since the previous week, and the second straight week of a drop.
The highest total was two weeks ago, when 87,686 filed.
The total number of people filing for unemployment in the last six weeks, which is roughly when the economic shutdowns began in the state, is 406,889.
The county with the most unemployment claims this week was Greenville, with 8,809. Spartanburg was second with 6,326. In the Midlands, Richland had the highest with 4,137 followed by Lexington with 2,872.
Automobile manufacturing, full-service restaurant, general medical, and surgical hospital employees were responsible for the most claims, according to DEW numbers for the week ending April 25, 2020.
SCDEW said they're still doing everything they can to simplify their system.
“Earlier this week, we announced extended hours for our call center. Additionally, we have increased the number of people answering phones from 49 to over 450. We are also working with the call center provider to make the system more efficient and productive. In regard to the benefits portal itself, our vendor has been revising the wording of questions in an attempt to eliminate issues. In the past six weeks, over 400,000 people have filed initial claims. While we think we are making progress in the handling of claims, we want everyone to know that we are doing everything in our power to assist people in obtaining benefits and are preparing to help people find jobs when the economy turns around,” said Dan Ellzey, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director.
Agency Responsiveness Actions:
• Since March 15, 2020, the agency has paid more than $585 million in a combination of state UI benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (for the self-employed and others) and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ($600 per week) program.
• Agency leadership has participated in more than 75 town halls, presentations, webinars, phone or video news interview, and Q&A sessions to help explain the UI process and answer questions from individuals and employers. A few of these are available on the SC DEW YouTube page.
• New, extended call center hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday so people can connect with one of our team members at 1-866-831-1724. Please understand, you may be transferred to another team member depending on the complexity of your issue.
• The Chatbot feature on the dew.sc.gov website has been a success and will continue to grow and become more intuitive. This enhancement is robust with information about the UI process, federal funds provided through the CARES Act, employer filing and more.