SC Dispute Over Unemployment Continues

The standoff between South Carolina's governor and state officials continues, with only two days before the state must stop printing unemployment checks for 77,000 people.

By: Associated Press | WSAV-TV
Published: December 30, 2008

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The standoff between South Carolina's governor and state officials continues, with only two days before the state must stop printing unemployment checks for 77,000 people.

Representatives from Gov. Mark Sanford's office and the Employment Security Commission continued Tuesday to discuss ways to keep the fund that pays $14 million a week to unemployed South
Carolinians from running dry.

Sanford says he won't request a $146 million federal loan to pay benefits through March until the commission agrees to his demands that include an audit by the state's watchdog agency.

Last month, South Carolina reported the nation's third-worst unemployment rate at 8.4 percent. Forecasters have said the jobless rate could reach an unprecedented 14 percent next year.