South Carolina begins paying 11-week federal pandemic unemployment benefit extension

(The Center Square) – South Carolina’s Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) distributed Friday the first payments of an extended federal unemployment benefit, the department announced.

Unemployed South Carolinians who previously received Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation but ran out of benefits will be eligible to receive an additional 11 weeks of extended unemployment payments. The benefit is funded by legislation passed by Congress in December.

Those eligible also will receive the additional $300 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.

The department paid out more than $49 million in federal pandemic unemployment benefits to claimants overnight Thursday, a spokesperson said.

“The technicality of implementing these programs is extremely complex, and the federal government did not pass legislation until after the CARES Act programs expired,” SCDEW Executive Director Dan Ellzey said in a statement. “Our staff worked diligently and very effectively to activate this new program, and I am proud of our agency’s action and fast turnaround.”

Last week, 6,683 new unemployment claims were filed – a slight decline from the previous week but nearly double the number of new claims filed a month ago. South Carolina’s unemployment rate in November was 4.4%.

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