PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) – During the week of March 7-13, a total of 293 initial weekly claims for state unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation.
This is a decrease of 5 claims from the prior week’s total of 298.
The latest number of continued state claims is 5,050 for the week ending March 6, a decrease of 621 from the prior week’s total of 5,671. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
Officials with the Department of Labor and Regulation remind claimants the benefit year will be ending for many unemployment claims originally filed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
If a claimant is still unemployed, a new claim must be opened to redetermine benefit eligibility. New claims can be filed online at dlr.sd.gov/RA or by calling 605-626-3179. This number is only for new claims and cannot assist with existing unemployment inquiries.
For week ending March 13, a total of $1.3 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $1.5 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $130,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $303,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance was $151.8 million on March 14.
Benefits paid since March 16, 2020:
- Regular State = $106.6 million
- FPUC = $223.9 million
- PUA = $19.5 million
- PEUC = $6.9 million
Total = Approximately $356.9 million
(The S.D. Dept. of Labor contributed this report/news release.)
