Ten weeks’ extension of unemployment insurance

If your favorite places to do business are missing the familiar faces of certain employees, it may well be they are not there because they continue to receive a combination of the state and federal jobless benefits designed to cushion the economic blows of COVID-19. And now some of those who’ve been furloughed can become eligible to receive 10 more weeks of benefits, in line with an announcement late last week by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.  For the week ended June 27, state director Dan Ellzey noted a decrease of 139 in first time claims filed.  According to Ellzey, South Carolina is “not seeing the movement week-over-week for which we hoped.”  He sees a lot of questions and unknowns as to what the job future will hold, how long the economic stall lasts, and the true magnitude of the impact.