As Unemployment Continues to Soar, 35 States are Offering Additional Benefits

• Author: William Asher
• Posted: 2023-11-15

As the nation continues to grapple with a devastatingly tough economic climate as the result of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, the majority of states are now offering an additional $300 in monthly unemployment aid. The latest unemployment claims indicate that millions of Americans are still struggling to find work. Here is what the individual states are now doing to alleviate this burden for their unemployed residents.

Latest Unemployment Numbers

The latest job numbers are in and they do not paint a pretty picture. For the 22nd time in 23 weeks, the number of Americans who filed jobless claims for the first time was above one million. According to the US Labor Department, the number of initial unemployment claims was just a tad over one million for the week ending August 22. This number is down slightly from 1.104 million in the week prior. The latest numbers were inline with what a survey of economists by Dow Jones predicted.

Since the onset of the pandemic, initial unemployment claims have increased by more than 58 million. New Jersey and Florida have seen the biggest jumps in jobless claims over the last few weeks. Claims in New York and Texas have also been particularly concerning.

The one bit of good news is that continuing claims dropped by 223,000 to land at 14.535 million for the week ending on August 15. Continuing claims are defined as those individuals who have received unemployment benefits for a minimum of two consecutive weeks.

New Federal Unemployment Benefits

The federal government acted fairly quickly at the beginning of the pandemic to safeguard the economy through the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). This $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill was signed into effect in March. As part of the comprehensive legislation, the government kicked in an additional $600 per week for unemployment benefits for those individuals who qualified at their state level. This stipend was in addition to the regular state unemployment benefit. However, this extra benefit expired on July 31, leaving many of the country's most vulnerable households facing significant financial uncertainty.

To help to remedy this situation, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 8 directing federal disaster-relief funds to unemployed Americans. While it is not as generous as the previous $600 weekly stipend, the money will provide up to $300 more in weekly benefits to qualified workers. The money is offered at the federal level to states that have gone through the approval process.

35 States Now Eligible to Offer Extra Benefit

As of August 28, 35 states are now eligible to dole out this benefit to their qualified workers. The 35 states now eligible are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington state, and West Virginia.

Of those states, Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas have already started paying the benefits. Kentucky and Montana have also announced that they are adding an extra $100 to the stipend from funds that are part of the federal coronavirus relief fund.

Miscellaneous Details of the New Stipend Program

The funds are retroactive back to the week ending August 1. As with all federal assistance programs, this money is not unlimited. The program is being administered by the US Labor Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to official estimates, the states will receive approximately five weeks of funding before the reserve is depleted.

Each state is given autonomy regarding how to best distribute the funds. While some workers will automatically receive the payments without having to apply again, other states require that the unemployment applicants take additional steps. In order to be eligible for the additional $300 in funds, applicants must have also received a minimum of $100 in state unemployment benefits during the weeks covered by the program.

While this additional money is simply a band-aid on the bigger economic issues that the nation is facing, government officials hope that the unemployment stipend will help to stem the tide of this escalating situation.