SC reports 2021â²s 2nd-lowest weekly initial unemployment claim total VIDEO: SC reports 2021â²s 2nd-lowest weekly initial unemployment claim total By Patrick Phillips | March 4, 2021 at 9:13 AM EST - Updated March 4 at 2:18 PM COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - The stateâs Department of Employment and Workforce says just more than 4,000 filed their first claim for unemployment in the last week. SCDEW said for the week ending Saturday, it received a total of 4,089 initial claims, up from 3,705 in the week ending Feb. 20, the lowest total reported in 2021. That brings the total since March 15 of last year who have filed that first claim to 854,215.