South Carolina, tri-county unemployment claims totals still above pre-coronavirus numbers

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Tens of thousands more South Carolinians joined the ranks of the unemployed last week as initial claims filers remain stubbornly high throughout the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 24,950 residents who both live and work in South Carolina submitted new unemployment applications for the week ending Saturday, according to a state Department of Employment and Workforce release on Thursday. That total is down 4,496 initial claims from the prior week when 29,446 first-time claimants filed and represents six consecutive weeks of declines in initial state jobless claims.

Totals have decreased each week since a record-high 87,686 applications were filed for the week ending April 11 but are still well above rates from before the public health crisis when the state agency was averaging weekly about 2,000 new claims filers. Experts say that suggests a full recovery from the economic downturn will be long term.

"While we see another downward-trending week," said agency Executive Director Dan Ellzey, "the number of people filing initial claims in South Carolina is still high, demonstrating the serious importance of the jobs that are now becoming available in our state as more and more businesses reopen their doors carefully and safely."

Locally, Sumter had 599 residents file initial jobless claims for the week ending Saturday. Like the state, Sumter reached its peak during the week ending April 11 when 1,928 Sumterites filed initial claims.

Much smaller county Clarendon had 143 residents file a new application for unemployment last week. Lee had 75.

The state's unemployment rate for April was released last week, and that figure was 12.1%. The March rate for The Palmetto State was 3.2%. The 8.9% jump in a single month is the largest on record for South Carolina.