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

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

“Jobless workers continue to struggle with an economy that fails to provide enough jobs and an unemployment insurance system that is ill-equipped to deliver partial wage replacement to stabilize the economy, even as North Carolina’s Division of Employment Security announced $600 million in tax cuts to employers,” according to a North Carolina Justice Center news release. “Employment levels as a share of the population remains more than 4 percentage points below pre-recession levels, according to today’s announcement on labor market conditions for October 2015.”

Since July, North Carolina has been paying up to 12 weeks of UI benefits. The previous maximum was 15 weeks. North Carolina and six other states limit UI benefits to 26 weeks or less. Two states provide UI benefits for more than 26 weeks.

“North Carolina should not be issuing tax cuts for employers when we have failed to reach what are generally agreed to be safe levels for our state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund,” said Alexandra Forter Sirota, director of the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the North Carolina Justice Center. “Instead, our state policymakers need to re-balance their approach to ensure the system can deliver partial wage replacement to jobless workers and in so doing serve as a stabilizing force in the economy.”

Of the 89 people who filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in October, 50 were men and 39 were women, according to LEAD data. Of those 89 people, 46 were black. Races of the other 43 people were not included in the LEAD report.

The age groups with the highest number of benefits recipients in October was the 45-to-54-age group with 26 recipients, followed by the 25-to-34-age group with 24 recipients, according to LEAD information. The 35-to-44-age group was next with 13 recipients, followed by the 20-ti-24 age groups with 11 recipients and the 55-to-64 age group with nine recipients. The report listed no recipients in the 16-to-19-age group or the over-65-age group.

In North Carolina during October, the average weekly benefit amount was $243.17, according to LEAD data. In September, the average weekly benefit was $241.21. In October 2014, the average weekly benefit amount was $228.06, according to LEAD data.

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.