Initial unemployment claims in S.C. drop to 1,341 in week

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Initial unemployment claims in South Carolina dropped to 1,341 for the week ending July 31, with three counties recording triple-digit first-time claims.

Greenville County saw a state-high 136 claims, followed by Richland County with 118 and Spartanburg County with 106, according to data from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

Initial claims continued a downward trend after falling to 1,479 for the week ending July 24. First-time claims are at their lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began swelling unemployment ranks in March 2020.

Since March 15, 2020, DEW has seen 915,566 initial claims and paid out $6.5 billion in a combination of state and federal benefits. For the week of July 25-31, the agency paid out nearly $7 million in benefits.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster directed federal unemployment program benefits to phase out in the state by the end of June.

Nationally, unemplyoment claims fell by 14,000 to 385,000 for the week ending July 31.