Federal unemployment benefit programs, designed to help workers financially survive the pandemic, are now over. While states can use CARES Act money to extend them, Indiana – like most states – has no plans to do so.
Programs including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) ended on Sept. 4. Although the federal end date was set at Sept. 6, Indiana's eligibility schedule for benefits meant the benefits ended two days before.
Based on recent numbers from the Department of Workforce Development, around 90,000 Hoosiers who were collecting federal benefits up to the end date, lost their eligibility altogether. Another 20,000 could keep collecting regular state-supplied benefits, but lost an extra $300 a week federal boost that came with it.
READ MORE: Court Of Appeals Reverses Emergency Order For Federal Unemployment Benefits
Hoosiers can still submit a claim for federal benefits until early October for weeks when they were unemployed or had reduced wages before the cutoff.
DWD reports since March 2020, it’s paid out more than $9.2 billion in unemployment benefits, with more than 80 percent coming from federal programs.
Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.
