COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - New unemployment claims in South Carolina continue to be filed at levels that haven’t been seen in more than a decade.
Nearly 19,000 people filed an initial claim for unemployment during the week ending May 30, bringing the number of claims made since the pandemic began 11 weeks ago to nearly 560,000, according to a statement Thursday from the state Department of Employment and Workforce.
The 19,000 claims were the least of any week during the pandemic, but before COVID-19 started spreading, only eight weeks since 2000 had seen more than 20,000 unemployment claims. The last time was in 2009 during the Great Recession.
The job losses were initially concentrated along the coast, where restaurants and hotels shut as tourism dried up. Then they moved toward manufacturing in the Upstate and are now spread out across the state.
South Carolina has paid out $1.8 billion in jobless benefits since the pandemic began.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.