State pays millions to fired jobless

I guess we can thank our friends across the river to report on a huge problem with unemployment benefits: that employees can draw benefits when they are fired. This just doesn’t compute with me.

The Augusta Chronicle – COLUMBIA — Nearly one-quarter of unemployed South Carolinians who file for jobless benefits are out of work because of their own misconduct.

Of that group, 56 percent succeeded in getting unemployment benefits, said Rebecca Gunnlaugsson, the economist for the South Carolina Department of Commerce.

Data she presented during a forum Tuesday showed 22.8 percent of the unemployed were out of a job because of misbehavior, 10.1 percent had quit and 34.2 percent had been laid off.