CUT OFF

Unemployment benefits may end EARLIER than expected as millions face losing cash before Labor Day

UNEMPLOYMENT benefits that were to officially end on Labor Day may end EARLIER in some states due to administrative rules.

On September 6, as many as 7.5 million unemployed citizens who lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic will stop receiving the temporary bonus unemployment insurance benefits.

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Hundreds of people line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claimCredit: Reuters

Every state pays benefits that are in accordance with a set schedule that ends on a Saturday or a Sunday.

However, the American Rescue Plan has only offered benefits until September 6 which is a Monday.

That means that the last week of aid will be on September 4 or 5 depending on how the state operates its system.

The "benefits cliff" will impact more than 11 million Americans who will either lose all of their benefits or else see a smaller check each week, the Century Foundation estimates.

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states that no payment would be made after September 4 - "even if you have a balance left on your claim at that time."

is expected to be a nightmare for the millions of Americans who will lose their $300 check.

Altogether, three temporary programs, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and Pandemic Extended Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) have dispersed about $800billion in aid to needy families throughout the pandemic, according to . 

PROGRAMS ON CHOPPING BLOCK

Each program was aimed to tend to those who experienced various inequities. 

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.
  • The PEUC aided those who have been looking for a job for the long term. 
  • The consensus among some governors frowned on the benefits as being overly generous and didn’t help employers trying to fill vacancies.

    Some successful lawsuits in Indiana, Maryland, Arkansas and Oklahoma, have ordered them to .

    JOBS AND COVID ON RISE

    Last week, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a 17-month low, reported.

    The promising data, of claims falling below the 350,000 level suggests the economy is improving and job growth is on the rise. 

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