Will Unemployment Be Extended Again After September 2021

Aoc To Introduce Bill To Extend Pandemic Unemployment Insurance To 2022

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is calling for pandemic-era unemployment insurance programs to be extended until February 2022, she announced during a virtual townhall Tuesday.

The congresswoman said she will introduce a bill to extend federal unemployment programs established under the March 2020 CARES Act, which expired over Labor Day. If passed, the enhanced jobless aid would be retroactive to Sept. 6 and extended until Feb. 1, 2022.

Millions of Americans and their families lost their access to pandemic UI programs this month that provided aid to out-of-work freelancers, gig workers, caregivers and the long-term unemployed. All remaining workers collecting unemployment benefits also lost the $300 weekly booster that was created to supplement low state aid.

“I’ve been very disappointed on both sides of the aisle that we’ve just simply allowed pandemic unemployment assistance to completely lapse, when we are clearly not fully recovered from the consequences of the pandemic,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

While she added she’s not sure of the prospects of the legislation being passed, Ocasio-Cortez said she “simply could not allow this to happen without at least trying” to extend jobless aid.

Several studies have shown jobless benefits have had a minimal impact on hiring, and that concerns over the virus and ongoing child-care challenges remain top issues for workers evaluating their job prospects amid the health crisis.

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Federal Unemployment Benefits Will Be Extended In September

We doubled down on our bet that Federal unemployment benefits will be extended beyond September 6th after listening to Joe Biden tell us that the sky is not blue. The longer these enhanced Federal unemployment benefits remain in force the longer the Labor Participation Rate will remain below 2019 levels. This will continue to impact productivity, pricing and unit sales across retail, food services, travel and hospitality, commodities and more while setting the stage for stagflation. Many Technology stocks remain overvalued in our view yet Technology companies are largely free of having to compete with the Federal Government for workers. Mr. Bidens positioning statement is available courtesy of Bloomberg below.

What If I Have A Claim Balance Or Weeks Remaining After September When 2021 Unemployment Benefit Extensions For Pua Peuc And $300 Weekly Boost End

With federal unemployment benefits expiring after the week ending September 4th in states that didnt end pandemic benefits early, many are asking what will happen to their active claim balance if they have weeks left after the expiry date.

The answer unfortunately is that active balances under the PUA and PEUC programs will expire or go unused without any grace period unless another extension to the enhanced unemployment benefit program is funded at a federal or state level. At this stage the Biden administration is not extending benefits at a federal level and leaving this decision to state leaders.

This is despite many claimants, who started or continued claims this year under one or more of the extended federal unemployment programs, having remaining weeks come September 6th . Contacting your state unemployment agency for remaining balances wont be of much help either as the sudden end of benefit payments is per federal law as stated in DOL guidelines.

Note that PEUC claimants may also be able to move to a states extended benefits program, if available. Further, per guidance from the Biden administration, states can use APRA COVID relief funds to expand coverage of traditional state unemployment programs.

Covered in this Article:

• When Could an Extension Be Confirmed?

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White House: Us States To Decide Whether To Extend Lapsed Jobless Benefits

WASHINGTON, Sept 7 – Local officials who want to extend enhanced unemployment benefits can do so, the White House said on Tuesday, a day after the administration and U.S. Congress allowed a program to lapse which had boosted payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Programs providing up to $300 extra a week to millions of people who lost their jobs during the pandemic ended on Monday as the U.S. celebrated Labor Day.

Benefits were also available for people who normally do not qualify for state unemployment money, with checks going to those without jobs for an extended period of time and to “gig workers” who perform on-demand services, including as drivers, delivering groceries or providing childcare. Those people will be cut off entirely.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there are other options available for states to extend benefits to people in need.

“The message to these individuals is we’re going to continue to have your back,” she said.

The funding for extra jobless benefits had been provided as an economic stimulus measure in a series of bills following the COVID-19 pandemic, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed in March by Biden and his fellow Democrats. The administration never pushed for a nationwide extension.

Still, there was little direct evidence the payments were the primary factor pushing people out of the labor force.

Will Unemployment Be Extended Again In Some States

No state has decided to continue issuing $300 checks beyond the federal deadline.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told states last month they could earmark $350billion of funds from the American Rescue Planto continue paying unemployment benefits locally.

Republicans have argued that extended unemployment assistance was contributing to the ongoing labor shortage across the country.

While the unemployment rate is currently 5.2% well under the record high of 14.7% at the height of the pandemic amid record layoffs and shelter-in-place orders many have criticized the slowing speed of economic recovery.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported the economy added a disappointing 235,000 jobs in August, well under the 750,000 jobs economists had predicted and the White House expected.

About two-dozen Republican-led states had cut off enhanced unemployment benefits earlier in the summer: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Governors in these states claimed that residents were not taking available jobs because they preferred to collect unemployment instead. The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25, which is about $314 a week a few dollars over what jobless Americans were collecting.

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Unemployment Benefits Could Be Extended Until 2022 As New Legislation Is Introduced

• 12:20 ET, Sep 16 2021

UNEMPLOYMENT benefits could be extended until 2022, thanks to new legislation expected to be introduced this week.

It comes as the federal Covid support initially ended over the Labor Day weekend, leaving millions of jobless Americans without help.

The proposal will come from New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , who said the benefits would be extended through February 1, 2022, if passed.

The bill would also be retroactive from September 6, the day unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans.

âI will be reintroducing legislation to bring back the pandemic unemployment assistance,â the progressive congresswoman said.

However, AOC is not entirely sure the prospects of it.

Around 7.5million unemployed individuals watched their benefits expire earlier this month, according to estimates by the Century Foundation.

Those benefits included checks worth $300 per week.

What Happened In States That Cut Off Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Early

Governors in roughly two dozen states ended federal aid early over the summer, claiming that the extra unemployment benefits were disincentivizing people from finding work and led to labor shortages. Around that time, the economy and the job market were beginning to show solid signs of growth. Jobs were added to the economy overall, although many retail and dining businesses struggled to hire employees and continue to struggle.

Several studies over the last year have disputed claims that jobless benefits deter people from returning to work. Labor Department data released in August shows people living in states that cut off benefits early havent rushed back to work. Job growth in states that cut enhanced jobless benefits has been parallel to states that kept the benefits.

In a Arindrajit Dube, a University of Massachusetts economist, found in states that ended federal programs early, adults receiving extra unemployment benefits fell by 2.2%, but employment didnt increase. At the same time, employment rose by 0.2% in states that didnt end extended unemployment insurance prematurely.

Because COVID-19 cases have started to rise again due to the Delta variant, theres a newfound uncertainty around the economy and job market.

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Several States Ending Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Early

Following recent job reports that showed a shortage of workers to fill open positions, many states have ended one or more of the federally funded pandemic unemployment programs up to 10 weeks earlier than planned in order to incentivize workers to return to work. This includes the PUA program and associated $300 FPUC extra weekly payment.

The argument is that these generous UI benefits deter lower income workers from returning to work. Opponents argue that the reason people are not going back to work is due to fears around getting COVID and/or child care and schooling restrictions. You can see more on which states are ending the PUA and $300 FPUC here and this recent YouTube video on this topic.

States will still be obligated to pay active unemployment claims up to the early termination date in their state . This includes any missing or retroactive payments. New claims for these federal programs wont be accepted after this date and instead claimants will have to rely on the pre-pandemic state unemployment programs in place.

While a few states are not specifically ending their participation in the PUA program early , the majority are as you can see in the table below. This unfortunately will hit PUA claimants the hardest since they dont qualify for traditional state unemployment.

What Happens Now If Drivers Get Covid And Cant Work

With access to unemployment compensation, it was easier to know what would happen if you werent able to work because of the pandemic. Not only did you have the government safety net, but companies offered compensation too. While some companies like DoorDash and Grubhub still do, its difficult to find information about direct compensation from Uber or Lyft. They do, however, still offer access to testing, health insurance, and safety precautions.

It could definitely pay to get protection against lost income due to sickness or being quarantined. Gridwise offers a program that does exactly that, called Gridwise Protection. For a small monthly charge, you can recover the income you might lose from being sick, hospitalized, or sidelined due to a collision repair or an unfair deactivation.

Youd be well served by this program, and remember, you can use Gridwise to get a leg up on all those new drivers who are likely to be entering the market. In case you are one of those new drivers, youll want to use this handy and helpful app to improve your driving life, too. Here are some of the great features Gridwise offers:

• Automatic earnings tracking from all your driving apps
• The ability to log your expenses as they come in
• Mileage records
• Shift time optimizing feature that tells you When to Drive
• Fresh feeds of airport, event, weather, and traffic information.
• Cool deals and discounts for drivers.
• Awesome graphs that provide a tidy summary of your gig driving business:

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Former School Board President Quits Due To Hostility Over Covid

Sixteen months after the coronavirus pandemic upended the economy and left millions of Americans out of work, the historic relief programs Congress put in place are set to start expiring.

How Long Do Your Unemployment Benefits Last

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Getty

If youre on unemployment, or might be in the foreseeable future, youre probably wondering how long unemployment insurance lasts.

Heres what you need to know.

Unemployment Insurance: How Many Weeks?

More than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. If you lost your job, have been furloughed, your company has shut, or think you may lose your job in the future, its important to understand how unemployment insurance works and for how long it lasts. Unemployment benefits typically last for 26 weeks. However, each state dictates the length of unemployment benefits.

For example, states such as New York, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio each offer 26 weeks of unemployment benefits through the traditional state-funded unemployment insurance system. Seven states provides less than 26 weeks of unemployment compensation. For example, Florida and North Carolina each offer 12 weeks, while Missouri provides 13 weeks of unemployment benefits.

Unemployment Insurance: How You Get Paid

The unemployment insurance system helps people who have lost their job to receive benefits to help replace part of their lost income. The states administer the system and pay the benefits, with oversight from the U.S. Department of Labor, which pays the administrative costs.

Will Your Unemployment Benefits Be Extended?

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Aoc Calls For An Extension Of Enhanced Unemployment Benefits

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for the unemployment programs introduced under the March 2020 CARES Act to be extended through January 2022. AOC told viewers during a virtual town hall Tuesday that she is seeking to extend the benefits that expired this Labor Day. If the bill passes, the enhanced unemployment benefits would be delivered retroactively from Sept. 6 and extended through Feb. 1, 2022.

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Ive been very disappointed on both sides of the aisle that weve just simply allowed pandemic unemployment assistance to completely lapse, when we are clearly not fully recovered from the consequences of the pandemic, Ocasio-Cortez told the virtual crowd. However, she voiced doubts about whether or not the legislation would pass.

Illinois Ides Pandemic Unemployment Programs Expiry Pua Peuc Meuc And $300 Fpuc 2021 Retroactive Benefit Claim Payment Issues

The Illinois Department of Employment Security manages the states unemployment insurance program, systems and benefit processing/payments. See further details below on the newly enhanced benefits available now and how to file a claim.

Keep reading for more details and helpful tips if you are having issues with your unemployment claim. Also check out the comments forum following this article.

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• Filing a Claim

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Federal Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Are Scheduled To End On 6 September But With Delta Raging Biden Has Urged Some States To Continue The Payments

In July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the total number of unemployed workers at 8.7 million, representing an unemployment rate of about 5.4 percent. This figure is the lowest seen during the pandemic.

The news was also positive for the number of people experiencing long-term unemployment. After months of either no change or increases, the BLS recorded that the number of long-term unemployed . The number of long-term unemployed accounted for 39.3 percent of the total unemployed in July.

Get Help With Your Job Search

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Biden Emergency Extension To Pandemic Unemployment Benefits

With the rapid spread of and potential economic slowdown from the virulent Delta COVID-19 strain there is now talk of the Biden administration repurposing some of existing ARPA stimulus bill funding to extend pandemic unemployment programs to the end of 2022.

This is similar to the six week LWA extension that President Trump passed by executive order last year when Congress could not initially agree on funding an extension to pandemic unemployment benefits.

If Congress cannot provide additional funding then this will be the most likely path for a short-term emergency extension of pandemic benefits and could be done relatively quickly along party lines, or simply by a Presidential Executive order. White House lawyers are likely already working on this as a possible option.

Note that states which had ceased participation early in the federally funded unemployment programs will need to reapply to get access to this short term extension, if indeed it is passed.

What You Need To Know About Expiring Unemployment Benefits

There are three major programs that ended on Sept. 6 in states that did not already cancel them:

• Pandemic Unemployment Compensation : $300 per week federal supplement that has been paid in addition to full state benefits
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance : Benefits for workers not usually eligible for unemployment insurance, such as self-employed workers, freelancers, and other gig workers
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation : Assistance for those who are still unemployed after exhausting their state benefits

These programs have delivered nearly $800 billion in assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sept. 6 was the largest cutoff of unemployment benefits in history, according to The Century Foundation Report.

At the same time, the resurgent Delta variant threatens to keep workplaces and businesses closed, complicating the job market even further. The latest jobs report showed the economy added 235,000 positions in August, significantly lower than economists anticipated. August had the fewest job gains since January, but the unemployment rate dropped in line with estimates by economists polled by Reuters, from 5.4% to 5.2%.

Its definitely impacting job seekers and their willingness to jump into jobs that are going to put them at risk of infection, and its affecting the economy, says Stettner. Conferences are being canceled live events are being canceled.

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