COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – Horry County leads the state with over 9,000 unemployment claims amid the coronavirus outbreak.
On Thursday morning, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce released updated data for unemployment claims as of the week ending on March 28, including a county-by-county map of claims made by those who both live and work in the state.
Horry County leads the state with about 9,672 claims, according to the map. Unemployment claim numbers for other counties in the News13 are include:
- Florence County: about 1,257 claims
- Georgetown County: about 844 claims
- Darlington County: about 646 claims
- Chesterfield County: about 330 claims
- Marion County: about 262 claims
- Marlboro County: about 195 claims
- Dillon County: about 132 claims
Charleston County has the second largest number of unemployment claims at about 7,845. McCormick County has the least number of unemployment claims at 43.
Across SC, “advances figures for South Carolina initial claims” for those who live and work in state in the week ending on March 28 showed an increase of about 108% from the previous week’s count of about 31,054. The state saw an increase of about 3,149% from the week ending on March 14, which saw about 64,856 claims from those who live and work in the state.
SCDEW says benefits from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), which was recently signed into the law, aren’t yet available and they are waiting for further guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor.
“For those who have already filed an unemployment insurance claim, please
continue to file your weekly claim, SCDEW says. “For those who are self-employed, independent contractors, nonprofit employees, and gig economy workers, or requesting an extension of benefits and are not currently filing weekly claims, please continue to visit our website at dew.sc.gov, as we will continue to provide additional information and guidance as it becomes available.”
“Due to the influx of unemployment claims being filed, the national system known as ICON hub,
which all states use to validate social security numbers on claims in real time, is being
overwhelmed with validation requests,” the department adds. “We are required to validate social security numbers to avoid fraud and prevent identity theft. The Department of Labor is aware and is working to expand its database capacity.”
“The unemployment insurance claims process is 100 percent online. You do not have to visit an SC Works center to file for benefits. There is no “in-person” process,” the department further says. “Most of the questions our agency is receiving through our call center can be found on our website dew.sc.gov and our YouTube page SC DEW.”
Count on News13 for updates.
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