The overall decline in Beaufort County’s unemployment rate in the past several years appears to be resulting in fewer claims for unemployment benefits being filed, except for some seasonal fluctuations.

There were 63 claims for benefits filed in Beaufort County during December 2016, with that number increasing to 103 in January 2017, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. During that same period, Hyde County’s benefits claims went from 17 to 57. Martin County’s benefits claims went from 51 in December to 52 in January. Washington County’s benefits claims fell from 39 in December to 31 in January, according to department data.

The number of Beaufort County residents who filed initial claims to receive unemployment insurance benefits increased from 86 people in September 2015 to 89 people in October 2016, according to information released by the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division.

In August 2016, 100 Beaufort County residents filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, according to LEAD research.

The amount of unemployment insurance benefits paid to Beaufort County residents in October 2015 came to $63,858, down from $80,273 paid to county residents in September 2015, according to LEAD figures. In August 2015, those benefits totaled $100,154, up from the $97,670 paid in July 2015, according to LEAD figures. In June 2015, the amount of benefits paid totaled $96,348.

Until November 2015, the department prepared weekly and monthly reports on benefits claims, including data on the average weekly benefits amounts by county and statewide. “The Department of Commerce’s Labor Economic and Analysis Division (LEAD) used to prepare that report, however they are no longer providing that report,” wrote Larry Parker, government and public relations manager for the department’s employment-security division, in an email.

Those reports provided the dollar amount of benefits paid in each county for a specific month and how much money went to specific age groups, races and genders. That county-specific information is no longer compiled by the state, according to another email from Parker.

Statewide, the average weekly benefits amount in December 2016 came to $246.78, according to Parker.

In North Carolina, $350 is the maximum weekly benefit for unemployment benefits, which last for 19 weeks. The minimum weekly benefit is $15.

The amount of a claimant’s weekly benefit amount depends, in part, on that person’s salary history during the last two quarters of his or her base period divided by 52. A claimant must have at least $780 in one of those last two quarters to establish a weekly benefit amount, which cannot exceed $350.

The overall benefits paid include regular unemployment insurance, unemployment compensation for federal employees, unemployment compensation for ex-military personnel, emergency unemployment compensation, extended benefits and federal additional compensation, according to LEAD documents.

Some unemployed people no longer receive unemployment benefits because they’ve exhausted the benefits they were entitled to receive.