SC brings back job search requirement for those who want to receive unemployment
For the first time in a year, South Carolina will start requiring people drawing unemployment benefits to prove they are actively seeking out work.
The work search requirement begins the week of April 18, the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce announced Friday. To remain eligible for benefits, S.C. residents must conduct two job searches each week via the S.C. Works Online Services portal or smartphone app.
“When the pandemic began, the agency suspended the two weekly work searches, which are required by state regulation to maintain eligibility for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits,” DEW Executive director Dan Ellzey said in a statement. “Now a year later, as more and more South Carolinians are returning to work and the unemployment rate is consistently dropping, it is time to reinstate the work search requirement in order to help employers and job seekers connect.”
DEW’s announcement comes as the state’s unemployment rate, consistently below the nation’s during the coronavirus pandemic, dropped to 5.2% in February. The state gained nearly 18,000 jobs from January to February, with transportation and utilities, professional and business services, and manufacturing making up the bulk of the gains.
“This is encouraging economic news for the state of South Carolina. Our economy is recovering strongly and, in fact, doing better than most of our neighbors and the nation as a whole,” Ellzey said in a statement.
However, the state is still hemorrhaging jobs in one of the hardest-hit sectors, hospitality, which lost 2,400 jobs even when seasonally adjusted for typical winter declines in tourism activity.
Ellzey said that the work search requirement will help the 125,000 unemployed South Carolinians fill the nearly 87,000 open jobs around the state. In Myrtle Beach, “help wanted” signs can be found on dozens and dozens of businesses around the region. Employers in recent weeks have begun complaining that they can’t find workers and meet the demand of the floods of tourists coming to town for spring break.
“This is one step closer to full economic recovery in South Carolina, and we are excited to help claimants secure financial stability through meaningful employment,” Ellzey said in a statement.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 11:52 AM.
