Some unemployment benefits set to expire in S.C.

Listen to this article

South Carolina 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, according to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

For the week ending Nov. 21, 3,567 initial unemployment claims were filed in South Carolina, bringing the claims total since March 15 to 781,243.

Nationally, claims rose 30,000 from the previous week to 778,000.  

Richland County saw 291 initial claims filed, behind Horry County’s state-high 362 and Greenville County’s 322. Spartanburg County saw 216 claims filed, while Lexington County had 180 and Charleston County 169.

For the week of Nov. 16-21, 124,571 claimants received an average of $227.42 in unemployment benefits. Since mid-March, DEW has paid more than $4.6 billion in a combination of state and federal benefits.

South Carolina’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.2% in October, down from 5.2% in September.