Initial unemployment claims top 8,600 for week

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As the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce began paying a second extended federal unemployment benefit, initial unemployment claims for the week ending Jan. 9 topped 8,600.

On Monday, DEW began issuing payments to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants who had exhausted their 39 weeks of benefits. Last week, the agency began paying extended Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The PUA extension, made available through the Continued Assistance Act passed Dec. 27, will provide an additional 11 weeks of benefits. Individuals receiving benefits as part of this extension will also get the $300 FPUC weekly supplement, according to the agency.

“After implementing the $300 FPUC payment to South Carolinians in record time, we are now pleased to announce we have begun the PUA extension program less than a week later,” Dan Ellzey, DEW executive director, said in a news release. “This will provide benefits to people who are self-employed or those who were found ineligible for state unemployment insurance benefits. Knowing that the holidays and expiration of the CARES Act funds have put a strain on people throughout our state, our agency continues to work extremely hard to initiate the new programs.”

DEW is continuing to receive U.S. Department of Labor guidance regarding the implementation of two remaining federal programs, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation.

For the week ending Jan. 9, 8,635 initial claims were filed in South Carolina. That represented a decrease of 693 from the previous week, according to DEW data. Greenville County saw 842 claims, Anderson County 713, Horry County 620 and Richland County 547. Spartanburg had 489, Charleston County 314 and Lexington County 308.

Nationally, initial claims increased by 181,000 from the previous week to 965,000.

For the week of Jan. 3-Jan. 9, DEW paid out $42.5 million in a combination of state and federal benefits, with 72,924 claimants receiving an average of $223.66. Since March 15, the agency has paid out $4.87 billion.