SC DEW: Number of initial unemployment insurance claims last week is the lowest since pandemic

SOUTH CAROLINA (WOLO) – The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce says the number of initial unemployment insurance claims last week is the lowest since the pandemic started.

Officials say in the week of August 16 to August 22, 5,524 people filed their initial claim for unemployment insurance in South Carolina, with the most claims coming from Richland County at 523.

According to SC DEW, that’s a decrease of 1,731 initial claims from the week prior.

The department says in the last 23 weeks, the total number of initial claims has risen to 725,228 in South Carolina.

The agency also says it has paid more than $3.87 billion in a combination of state unemployment insurance benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported 1 million more workers filed jobless claims last week.

According to ABC News, the government said the total number of people still claiming benefits through all programs was more than 27 million as of the week ending Aug. 8. In the same week last year, that figure was 1.6 million.