South Carolina residents will no longer receive extended unemployment benefits after the claims week ended December 12 due to the state’s average three-month unemployment rate of less than 6.5%.
In addition, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Unemployment Compensation programs are due to expire on December 31. These benefits will not be paid after the week ended December 26, according to the SC Department of Employment and Workforce.
For the week ending November 21, 3,567 initial unemployment claims were filed in South Carolina, bringing the total number of claims since March 15 to 781,243.
Nationally, claims have increased by 30,000 over the previous week to 778,000.
Richland County saw 291 initial claims filed, behind Horry County 362 and Greenville County 322. Spartanburg County saw 216 lawsuits filed, while Lexington County had 180 and Charleston County 169.
In the week of November 16-21, 124,571 applicants received an average of $ 227.42 in unemployment benefits. Since mid-March, DEW has paid more than $ 4.6 billion in a combination of state and federal benefits.
South Carolina’s unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in October, from 5.2% in September.