Initial S.C. unemployment claims fall below 2,000 in week

Listen to this article

For the week ending May 29, 1,972 initial unemployment claims were filed in South Carolina as the state enters its last month of providing federal unemployment benefit programs.

The initial claims filed for the week of May 23-May 29 represented a drop of 89 from the previous week, according to DEW data.

On May 6, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster directed DEW to terminate federal unemployment programs by the end of June.

For the most recent week, DEW paid out $51.4 million in a combination of state and federal unemployment benefits. Since March 15, 2020, the agency has paid out more than $6.2 billion.

Greenville County again topped the state with 221 initial claims, while Spartanburg County had 151. Richland County saw 140, Lexington County 109 and Horry County 105.

Nationally, initial unemployment claims fell by 20,000 to 385,000. That’s the lowest level since March 14, 2020, when 256,000 claims were filed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.