Lexington County has the lowest number of unemployment claims – 43 – of the state’s 5 largest counties in October’s 1st week.

The state had 1,157 initial unemployment claims filed for the week ending Oct. 2, an increase of 44 from the previous week.

Greenville County had a state-high 112 first-time claims filed, while Horry County had 89. Richland County 83 and Spartanburg County 71, according to the SC Department of Employment and Workforce.

Nationally, 326,000 claims were filed for the week, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week.

Since March 15, 2020, 928,842 initial unemployment claims have been filed in the state.

DEW has paid out $6.55 billion in a combination of state and federal unemployment benefits.