Columbia, SC (FOX Carolina) – The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce has released initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending June 13.

According to SCDEW, 19,366 people file an initial claim last week. That’s down 3,368 from the previous week.

Greenville County saw initial claims this past week totaling 1,862. Spartanburg County came in fifth highest in the state with 1,071. For the third week, no county in the state saw above 2,000 claims this past week.

In the last 13 weeks, the total number of claims in the state has risen to 601,631 . SCDEW says more than $2.2 billion has been paid in a combination of UI benefits and CARES Act programs.

“With the latest claim week, the state’s total number of initial claims has now reached more than 600,000. This is a significant milestone and true indicator of the widespread effects of COVID-19 on our state, workforce and economy,” said Dan Ellzey, Executive Director, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

“This represents a significant number of people who have lost their jobs. And, it explains the magnitude of the money that has been paid out in unemployment benefits. As of June 16, that number is $2.2 billion paid to unemployed South Carolinians. On a positive note, our agency is hearing from numerous businesses who are actively looking for employees and industries who are busily ramping up to respond to consumer and market demands,” continued Ellzey.

Ellzey encouraged both employers and job seekers to utilize the job matching service that is provided on the agency’s website for free. Interested parties can visit the site by clicking <a href=”https://jobs.scworks.org/vosnet/Default.aspx” target=”_blank”>here</a>.

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