South Carolina Triggers Off Tier 4 of the Recently Extended Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program

January 9, 2013 – Federal unemployment benefits will continue for thousands of South Carolinians due to Congress extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program for one year. However, due to the recent continued decline in the state’s unemployment rate, South Carolina has triggered off of Tier 4 in the EUC program.

That means those Tier 3 claimants, who exhaust Tier 3 either on or before January 12, 2013, will be allowed to move to and complete Tier 4 of the EUC program. Conversely, claimants who do not exhaust Tier 3 until after January 12 will not be eligible for any additional benefits.

Claimants currently in Tier 4 of EUC will be able to finish out any remaining weeks of eligibility.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the three-month-average unemployment rate for the state fell below the nine percent trigger rate threshold, thereby discontinuing the state’s Tier 4 eligibility.

As a result, the maximum potential to receive federal unemployment benefits will decrease from 37 weeks to 29 weeks. In South Carolina, the maximum potential to receive state benefits is 20 weeks.

Georgia and Mississippi also triggered off of Tier 4 of the EUC program due to a decline in unemployment rates.

In the last week of 2012 there were approximately 29,000 claimants on EUC. Of that, an estimated 800 will be eligible to move to Tier 4.

The SC Department of Employment and Workforce encourages all claimants that have exhausted state and federal benefits to check with their local SC Works center to determine the availability of additional eligibility.