× By Paul Roberts, The Seattle Times
Published: January 1, 2021, 11:13am
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State officials spent the week racing to deliver a complicated package of federal benefits for more than 280,000 Washingtonians left jobless by the pandemic.
The good news: most claimants who were getting federal unemployment benefits in December won’t see a significant interruption, even though President Trump let the programs expire, the state Employment Security Department confirmed Thursday.
And some 90,000 Washingtonians will even see a modest windfall: the $550 one-time payment Gov. Inslee authorized last week in case federal benefits lapsed is being paid anyway, starting this week.
“We’re following through on that commitment,” said ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine. “And if some people get an additional payment, I think our economy and our people need it.”
Dec 30, 2020
CTDOL is working with federal partners to make the transition as easy as possible for CARES Act claimants whose benefits expired prior to the President’s signature on the new legislation.
Please continue to check this page for updates and do not call the Contact Center for new information. The Contact Center will direct all callers to this page.
December 29, 2020: Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby today provided an update on the Emergency Coronavirus Recovery Act of 2020, known as the CARES Act extension. The law protects Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs; allocates an additional $300 per week benefit for all claimants for up to 11 weeks; extends the interest waiver for Trust Fund borrowing; and continues 100% federal funding for the Shared Work program.
Pierre, SD, USA / DRGNews
Dec 31, 2020 8:20 AM
During the week of Dec. 20-26, a total of 602 initial weekly claims for state unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is a decrease of 168 claims from the prior week’s total of 770.
A total of $853,000 was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $171,000 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $219,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $171,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The latest number of continued state claims is 3,609 for the week ending Dec. 19, a decrease of 617 from the prior week’s total of 4,226. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
‘Diddy’ delivers, chicken coops, New Year’s Eve restrictions: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Gadsden: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alabama topped 2,800 this week, as recent days have shown a steady climb and new record high inpatient counts – 2,804 on Tuesday – as the surge in cases continues. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, the University of Alabama’s Division of Infectious Diseases director, said Alabama now is third in the nation in COVID-19 hospitalizations per capita, behind Nevada and Arizona. She said Alabama is sixth in the nation in the number of COVID-19 cases per capita, after falling out of the top 10. On Christmas Eve, the number hospitalized was 2,458 across the state; on Christmas Day and on Saturday, it was 2,516, according to statistics published by BamaTracker. On Sunday, the number rose to 2,631; and it jumped significantly by Monday, to 2,802 people hospitalized.
New Yorkers to Begin Receiving Extended Federal Unemployment Benefits Next Week Written by Office of the Governor.
Thanks to Proactive Preparation, New York State will Deliver Extended Unemployment Benefits Without Delay
Unemployed New Yorkers Will Receive an Additional $300 Weekly Supplement and Extended Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Starting the Week of January 3rd
Unemployed New Yorkers Must Continue to Certify to Receive Benefits
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that unemployed New Yorkers will begin receiving extended and expanded federal unemployment benefits next week the first week these benefits can be paid under federal law. New York is able to provide these benefits immediately due to proactive work by the State Department of Labor to prepare for the federal government finally enacting a bill to extend unemployment programs originally included in the CARES Act that were set to expire at the end of 2020