the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Expanded unemployment insurance (UI) benefits established under the federal CARES Act in March 2020, and renewed by the Continued Assistance Act in December 2020 and again by the American Rescue Plan in March, are expiring Sept. 4.
Enhanced UI benefits were quickly enacted as the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted millions of workers across the country, causing many to abruptly lose their jobs or prevent them from finding new ones. These programs provided supplemental funds on top of regular UI payments, and extended benefits to those who typically would have been ineligible.
Among the programs expiring Sept. 4 are: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provided unemployment benefits to self-employed workers, independent contractors and others who are not typically eligible for benefits; Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which extended unemployment payments to those who already exhausted regular unemployment benefits; and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which added a weekly supplemental payment to regular unemployment.
These programs are ending, and claimants will not be able to claim benefits under these programs for weeks after Sept. 4 regardless of whether a balance appears on their accounts. Claimants certifying for weeks prior to Sept. 4 will receive the enhanced benefits if found eligible for a claim that was filed before Sept. 4.
Claimants who exhaust their 26 weeks of regular state unemployment benefits beyond Sept. 4 and have not yet collected state extended benefits will be transitioned to 13 weeks of state extended benefits, if eligible. These extended benefits were triggered in July 2020 due to the state’s unemployment rate. Claimants moved to state extended benefits will see “Extended Unemployment Benefits” as their claim status in their accounts.
Additionally, federally required reviews for new wages, which occur after one year, when a claim reaches its benefit year end, may result in a lower weekly benefit rate for some claimants starting on Sept. 5.
New Jersey, which was experiencing record low unemployment before the pandemic, reached historic numbers of unemployment claims in the weeks and months following the arrival of COVID-19 in the United States. With the aid of the enhanced federal unemployment benefits programs, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has paid $34 billion in benefits to more than 1.6 million claimants since March 2020, including to hundreds of thousands who would have been ineligible for benefits without the federal expansions.
More than two dozen states across the nation halted federal enhanced unemployment benefits months before the Sept. 4 expiration with the intention of spurring job gains. Several recent studies, including one published late last month by economists from Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Toronto, found that this move had little impact on employment.
“New Jersey has continually used every program and tool in our arsenal to get as many benefits to as many claimants as quickly as possible,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “We understand these federally enhanced benefits have been a lifeline to our workforce and our economy during these trying times; our Department and our State will continue to support those in need, and assist those looking for work.”
For the most up-to-date information on New Jersey unemployment insurance benefits, please visit myunemployment.nj.gov.
About time.
And this will put an end to all this inability for companies to attract workers. The natural forces of supply -v- demand resume.
When 1/2 the population becomes homeless and unable to support thier family bc these uc benefits were a godsent lifeline. The what will the Dumb dense dems do.
The pandemic is still here . I don’t understand . How they treat America in like crap all other states got way more the us . And they are leaving America in on streets . Food has doubled . And the elderly are suffering . This is bullshit .
There was a period of time during the pandemic in 2020 when some people truly needed financial assistance. But it’s 2021 now and for the past several months there have been HELP WANTED signs all over the place in NJ.
You can’t help but see these signs wherever you go but a lot of people who have been getting a pass on not paying rent in NJ for more than 16 months AND receiving state and Fed unemployment are sitting around gladly accepting government hand outs and asking for more extensions.
That’s the Democrat plan to turn AMERICA into a socislist country…Democrats give you some money and some freebies and in return you vote Democrat. That creates a lazy, uninspired population of able bodied workers who sit home and let the government support them.
But it also sadly ends the spirit of being entrepreneurial, opening or partnering in a small business or exercising your brain to advance yourself in a career to financially achieve home ownership, saving for retirement etc.
So what do Americans really want? Extended unemployment benefits while you become a vegetable sitting on the sofa 7 days a week? Or stand on your own two feet by getting a job and feel the pride of supporting yourself and working hard toward your dreams?
Phil Murphy is a radical “progressive” (socialist) anti-small business governor who said he wants NJ to be his “California of the East”.
You can’t get a more welfare driven, radical socialist governor than Phil Murphy. He will slide NJ into becoming a dangerous, welfare dependant state. Small businesses will continue to go out of business and large businesses will leave NJ for other states.
So let’s vote that sack of fertilizer Murphy out of office.
In Louisiana benefits were cut short admist a surge n covid followed by a hurricane..we have the Lowest unemployment pay out in the country..#Pray fo Louisiana..cause our govenoe is making political decision with our lives ..m he will never become president#John bell edwards sucks
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GOVERNORS DEWINE HAD NO RIGHT TO END UNEMPLOYMENT OR CUT IT OR ANY PRESIDENT OR PEOPLE CORONA Still Killing People With the Shot And Delta Killing Viruses With Being Vaccines Catch spread And Dye After Taking the Shots After Being Vaccines Its Best For All People To Wear FACEMASK and Stay They Distance Children Still Catching Viruses in these Schools Cause They Refuse yo Wear FACEMASK and Distance themselves The Government Of America Is Endangering Americans Denying Americans Unemployment Stimulus Wages $15 hour Yet Aiding Abetting Millions Of. undocumented Foreigners and Illegal immigrants Depriving Americans Citizens Freedom Liberty Rights