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Initial S.C. employment claims top 2,000 in week

Melinda Waldrop //July 9, 2021//

Initial S.C. employment claims top 2,000 in week

Melinda Waldrop //July 9, 2021//

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In the final days of federal unemployment benefits programs in South Carolina, 2,173 initial unemployment claims were filed in the state for the week ending July 3.

That represented an increase of 501 claims from the previous week, according to S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce data. For the week of June 27-July 3, DEW paid out $49 million in a combination of state and federal unemployment benefits.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster directed federal benefits to end in the state by June 30, ahead of a scheduled Sept. 6 expiration date.

A state-high 152 initial claims were filed in Greenville County, while 118 were filed in Richland County and 80 in Berkeley County.

Since March 2020, DEW has paid out nearly $6.5 billion in a combination of state and federal unemployment program benefits to 907,853 claimants.

Nationally, initial claims increased by 2,000 from the previous week to 373,000.

 

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