South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed into law this week legislation reducing the total number of weeks jobless workers eligible for regular unemployment benefits could receive said benefits. The customary number, one used until recently across the United States, was 26 weeks. Under the newly passed legislation, according to The State, the number of weeks will be reduced to 20.
As states across the country grapple with budgetary deficit and decreased revenue problems in a sluggish economy, many legislatures have taken to curtailing the number of weeks unemployment benefits will be allotted in an effort to save money. South Carolina's reduced payout schedule follows changes in unemployment benefits programs in states like Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, and Florida, all of which reduced the number of weeks the jobless could receive benefits.
The South Carolina legislation also reduces the level of benefits available to seasonal workers and provides breaks to employers that are attempting to pay higher unemployment taxes due to the state trying to pay off federal unemployment benefits loans.
South Carolina's unemployment rate in May was 10 percent (over 215,000 individuals), according to the Department of Labor, up for the first time since December 2010, when it finished a four-month run at 10.9 percent. Unemployment was at its worst in the state in November and December 2009, when the rate peaked 11.9 percent.
South Carolina joined Michigan and Missouri in reducing the number of weeks of eligibility for jobless benefits to 20. Arkansas reduced their total by only one week -- to 25. Florida passed legislation that was scaled to the unemployment rate in May, according to USA Today. With an unemployment rate above 10.5 percent, the number of weeks of eligibility will in the future stand at 23. However, when the rate falls below 10.5 percent (according to the Department of Labor, the May jobless rate was 10.6 percent), the number of weeks of benefits eligibility falls further and can get as low as 12 weeks if the unemployment rate should fall to 5 percent.
Of course, with less weeks of regular unemployment benefits eligibility, overall weeks are also reduced for those eligible for the various tiers in the unemployment extensions programs. For May, the percentage of the unemployed (nationally) that remained jobless for longer than 27 weeks (a week past the customary regular benefits duration) stood at 45.1 percent.
The national unemployment rate for May was 9.1 percent (13.9 million individuals).
According to U. S. Bureau of the Census, South Carolina is the fifth poorest state in the United States with average median income at $41,548.
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