BREAKING: 10,000 Bay Staters to Lose Extended Jobless Benefits Tomorrow

Friday, April 06, 2012

Jaclyn Cashman GoLocalWorcester News Editor

Some good news for Massachusetts’ unemployment rate is about to have a devastating side effect for some people who are still searching for work.

Alison Harris of the Executive Office of Workforce Development and Labor said, "Massachusetts will trigger off the extended benefits (EB) program, which currently provides up to thirteen additional weeks of Unemployment Insurance benefits. EB is a federal supplemental program that pays extended compensation during a period of specified high unemployment. EB will be available through April 7, 2012. At that point, an estimated 10,000 claimants will no longer be eligible for this program, since Massachusetts no longer meets the extension criteria."

Tomorrow, the last Federal Extended Benefits payment will be going out to unemployed workers in the Bay State.

Now unemployed workers will get 13 fewer weeks of unemployment benefits from the Federal Government.

Currently, if you are laid off you get 26 weeks of regular state benefits. Then Federal benefits start, assuming you are actively looking for work and are still unemployed.

The first tier of emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) is up to 20 weeks of benefits, then the second tier is up to 14 weeks of benefits ,and the third tier is up to 13 weeks.

Massachusetts is not qualified for tier four, which is an additional 6 weeks. This is only available for states that have an unemployment rate of 8.5 or higher.

Massachusetts has, until now, also qualified for the additional 13 weeks of Extended Benefits that are paid out after the Tiers of federal EUC benefits. But Massachusetts no longer qualifies for those Extended Benefits.

The reason Massachusetts no longer qualifies for the Extended Benefits is because two thresholds need to be met in order for the state to qualify for these funds. First, the unemployment rate must be 6.5% or higher, which it is. Massachusetts’ unemployment rate is 6.9%. The second requirement is the unemployment rate must be 110% or more of what it has been over the last three years during this same time-period. This second requirement Massachusetts no longer meets.

“Long-term unemployed workers have been struggling mightily to look for work in what is still a very tough job market,” says Mitchell Hirsch, an advocate with the National Employment Law Project. “Losing these additional weeks of unemployment insurance creates a serious hardship for many of those who’ve been hardest hit during the recession and its aftermath.”

Massachusetts is not alone in losing its federal Extended Benefits. Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin will also stop paying Extended Benefits on April 7, according to Hirsch.

Even as they are losing up to 13 weeks of Extended Benefits immediately, unemployment insurance recipients in Massachusetts will also likely lose up to 13 additional weeks of benefits from EUC Tier 3 starting June 1st.
Under the new federal law, effective June 1st states will need to have an unemployment rate of 7 percent or higher, to qualify for Tier 3.

For more information about unemployment insurance extension programs, visit www.mass.gov/dua/eb.

Alan B. Krueger, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, issued the following statement today on the employment situation in March. You can view the statement HERE.

There is more work to be done, but today’s employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue to make smart investments that strengthen our economy and lay a foundation for long-term middle class job growth so we can continue to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began at the end of 2007.

Employer payrolls increased by 121,000 jobs in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ establishment survey. The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.2% in March, according to the household survey. However, employment was virtually unchanged in the household survey.

Both surveys indicate the continuing challenges facing construction workers, as a result of the collapse in homebuilding following the bursting of the housing bubble. The unemployment rate for construction workers stands at 17.2%, more than double the national average. Because of weak private sector demand for construction investment and the nation’s continuing need for improved infrastructure, including maintenance of existing highways, bridges, and ports, the President’s Budget proposal to increase and modernize the nation’s infrastructure is well targeted to support the economy today and in the future.