S.C. initial unemployment claims drop by 884 in week

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The number of initial unemployment claims filed in S.C. for the week ending Nov. 28 dropped by 884 from the previous week.

The 2,683 claims were a decrease from the 3,567 filed for the week ending Nov. 14, according to data from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

Nationally, initial claims dropped by 75,000, to 712,000, for the week.

Greenville County saw a state-high 283 claims, while Horry County had 238. Richland County saw 206 claims, Spartanburg County 182, Charleston County 128 and Lexington County 115.

Since March 15, DEW has paid out $4.7 billion in a combination of state and federal unemployment benefits. S.C. has seen 783,926 claims filed since mid-March.

Last week, the agency announced that S.C. residents will no longer receive extended unemployment benefits after the claim week ending Dec. 12 because of the state’s lower than 6.5% three-month unemployment rate average. In addition, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Unemployment Compensation programs are set to expire by Dec. 31. Those benefits will not be paid after the week ending Dec. 26.