COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce says over $18 million in unemployment benefits have been paid to South Carolinians.
SCDEW says between March 15 and April 4, $18,498,410 was paid to South Carolinians “before the additional funds for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the additional $600 from the CARES Act have even reached the state.”
About 81,058 initial unemployment insurance claims were filed by those who live and work in South Carolina in the week ending on April 4, which is an increase of about 31% from the previous week’s number of about 64,856, SCDEW says. About 180,928 claims were processed in the past three weeks compared to “the prior three weeks when the agency processed a total of 5,862 initial claims.”
“Call center staff has been increased by 400% in the past two weeks to help respond to claimant questions,” SCDEW adds. “Over the weekend, the ICON Hub (national database) that validates social security numbers nationwide added server support in order to better accommodate volume. In South Carolina we are seeing more claimants able to process and complete a claim without an SSN validation issue.”
SCDEW also released numbers of intrastate claims, which are filed by those who live and work in South Carolina by county.
As of the week ending on April 4, Horry County leads the state with 10,098 intrastate claims. Intrastate claims for other counties in the News13 area are:
- Florence County: 1,685 claims
- Georgetown County: 981 claims
- Darlington County: 849 claims
- Chesterfield County: 649 claims
- Marlboro County: 382 claims
- Marion County: 356 claims
- Dillon County: 237 claims
Count on News13 for updates.
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