As businesses and industry reopen, more of us are going back to work.

The state recorded its 6th decrease in initial unemployment claims.

Only 24,950 people filed unemployment claims last week, a decrease of 4,496 from the previous week.

In the last 10 weeks, 540,545 claims have been filed in the state.

The SC Department of Employment and Workforce has paid more than $1.5 billion in state and federal benefits.

The DEW call center is answering more than 80,000 phone calls a week.

Lexington County had 1,052 claims filed and Richland County had 2,166.

A 3rd and final round of federal unemployment funds became available in South Carolina last Wednesday.

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation provides 13 additional weeks of benefits.

Application instructions are available on the SCDEW website.

Individuals can log in and click “apply for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation” or “file a new unemployment insurance claim,” then complete eligibility questions, according to a news release from DEW.