Initial unemployment claims fall in S.C., nationally

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Initial S.C. unemployment claims filed for the week ending May dropped by 151 from the previous week as a one-week grace period to complete a newly instated work search requirement expired.

The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce worked to communicate with claimants who did not complete two work searches in their SC Works online service account from April 18-24, according to a news release. Claimants who did not complete work searches last week should have received a questionnaire in their MyBenefits portal, according to DEW.

If claimants’ benefits were stopped because their work searches did not show up in the MyBenefits portal, claimants will need to speak with someone in an SC Works center.

Another benefits-related deadline also passed this week. May 5 marked the federal deadline for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance documentation showing proof of employment, self-employment or planned employment.

DEW said it is required to stop PUA benefits to and establish an overpayment for the more than 30,000 S.C. claimants who have not uploaded the document to their claimant portal.

For the week ending May 1, 2,856 initial unemployment claims were filed in the state, down from 3,007 the week before, according to DEW data. Greenville County had a state-high 589 claims, followed by Richland County at 427 and Spartanburg County at 365. Horry County had 262, Anderson County 234, Charleston County 225 and Lexington County 200.

Nationally, initial claims dropped by 92,000 to 498,000, the lowest total since 256,000 claims were filed for the week of March 14, 2020.