SCDEW: Slight increase in unemployment insurance claims last week

(Courtesy: SCDEW/Facebook)

SOUTH CAROLINA (WOLO) – The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce has reported a slight increase in unemployment insurance claims for last week.

According to the department, during the week of June 20 – 26, there were 1,672 initial insurance claims for unemployment that were filed.

That’s a slight increase of 39 initial claims filed from the previous week of June 13 – 19, where 1,633 claims were filed.

According to the department, since March 15, 2020, 905,680 total initial unemployment insurance claims have been filed in the Palmetto State.

Governor Henry McMaster has ordered the emergency federal unemployment programs in South Carolina to end, saying South Carolinians need to get back to work.

This move means unemployment workers lose an extra weekly $300 that was scheduled to run through early September.

According to SCDEW, as of May 2021, more than 2.2 million South Carolinians are working, with a 4.6% unemployment rate in South Carolina.

The U.S. Department of Labor says jobless claims dropped by 51,000 to 364,000 last week, making it the lowest level of claims since the pandemic started last year.

According to department officials, 3.47 million people were receiving traditional state unemployment benefits in the week of June 19, up from 3.41 million a week earlier.