S.C. initial unemployment claims rise by 112 in week

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Initial S.C. unemployment claims for the week ending Aug. 21 increased by 112 from the previous week, with Greenville and Richland counties again seeing the most claims filed. 

For the week of Aug. 15-21, Greenville saw a state-high 152 first-time claims filed, while Richland County had 140. Anderson County had 127 initial claims, Horry County 73 and Lexington County 70, according to S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce statistics. 

DEW paid out $5.74 million in a combination of state and federal program benefits for the most recent week as expanded federal benefits continued to phase out in the state. Since March 2020, more than $6.5 billion has been paid to 919,982 initial claimants. 

Nationally, initial claims increased by 4,000 from the previous week to 353,000.