Initial S.C. employment claims increase by 157 in week

Listen to this article

Initial unemployment claims in South Carolina increased by 157 for the week ending Oct. 9 from the previous week, with Greenville County recording a state-high 182 first-time claims.  

The state saw a total of 1,314 claims filed for the most recent week.

Richland County recorded 98 claims, while Horry County had 87 and Spartanburg County 82. Charleston County saw 48 claims and Lexington County 47, according to S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce statistics. 

Since March 15, 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the state, DEW has recorded 930,159 initial unemployment claims and paid out $6.6 billion in a combination of state and federal unemployment benefits.  

Nationally, first-time unemployment claims dropped by 36,000 from the previous week to 293,000.