Initial unemployment claims top 1,700 in week

As South Carolina nears a deadline to end federal unemployment program benefits, the state saw 1,710 initial unemployment claims filed for the most recent week.

The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce paid out $54.5 million in a combination of state and federal unemployment benefits for the week ending June 12. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has directed the agency to end federal benefit programs by the end of June.

Since March 15, 2020, $6.36 billion has been paid to 902,375 initial claimants, according to DEW data. For the week ending June 5, 1,887 initial claims were filed.

From June 6-June 12, Greenville County saw a state-high 182 claims filed, while Spartanburg County had 159. Richland County saw 123, while Charleston County saw 93.

Nationally, claims increased by 37,000 from the previous week to 412,000.