- 99 week maximum for jobless benefits may drop as low as 59 weeks, By Olivera Perkins, January 26, 2012, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “People thrust out of work in Ohio might have to settle for a much shorter period of unemployment benefits. Jobless workers here have been able to count on 99 weeks of benefits, but the maximum could fall to as low as 59 weeks. That possibility raises a divisive question: Is 99 weeks — almost two years — too long to draw jobless benefits…?”
- Jobless benefits to expire unless Pa. House acts, By Laura Olson, January 31, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Thousands of Pennsylvanians will see their federally funded unemployment benefits expire after this week, with legislation to extend those checks lingering in the state House of Representatives. A pending measure, which passed the state Senate last week, would offer 13 additional weeks of benefits to the state’s jobless residents. The federal funding was approved by Congress in December but requires the state to tweak its unemployment compensation rules in order to receive those dollars. That bill is awaiting consideration by a House panel, which has a vote scheduled for Monday. Legislative staffers say the belatedly approved benefits would be retroactive, but pressures to also enact broader changes to the state’s unemployment compensation system could further hold up that assistance…”
- Study: Safety net misses many jobless in Nevada, By Ed Vogel, January 30, 2012, Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Las Vegans Dylan Wikoff and Jorge Suescun Hijuelos know firsthand the downward spiral that occurs once you lose your job and then exhaust your unemployment benefits without finding work. ‘I ended up homeless on Fremont Street,’ said Wikoff, a 36-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was laid off more than two years ago from a sales job at a construction supply company. ‘It was a slow downward spiral for me,’ said Hijuelos, 51, a longtime union construction worker who had never been without work for more than a few weeks until the completion of the CityCenter project. ‘I sold my car, sold my bedroom set, sold everything to pay my rent. I went from a beautiful condo to renting rooms by the week. I slept in a couple of fields.’ These polite and bright men are not unusual. They actually are some of the lucky ones in the never-ending recession in Nevada…”
- Tension rises over Maine bill tackling unemployment insurance fraud, By Steve Mistler, January 30, 2012, Lewiston Sun Journal: “A controversial bill that would increase the penalties for unemployment fraud and the qualifications to receive out-of-work benefits is meeting stiff resistance from worker advocates. The proposal, LD 1725, was presented by the Department of Labor, which argued that an increase in unemployment claims has been accompanied by an increased possibility of fraud. Additionally, employer advocates are championing a provision in the proposal that would stop exempting vacation pay from the waiting period to receive benefits. Opponents, however, say the bill’s proposal to increase potential criminal penalties for unemployment fraud from a maximum of one year to 10 years in prison is extreme for a state that has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment fraud rates. In addition, they say the bill’s increased work-search mandates will force unemployed workers to take a job well beneath their skill and wage level…”
- Senators want to end jobless benefits for fired workers, By Gina Smith, January 26, 2012, The State: “State senators said Wednesday that they want to make sure that workers who were fired cannot get state unemployment benefits in the future. A Senate panel Wednesday advanced a bill that would prevent workers fired for misconduct from receiving any state unemployment benefits. Under current law, these workers can get jobless benefits for from five to 20 weeks, depending on the type and severity of their workplace infraction. The fired workers still would be eligible for up to 58 weeks of federal unemployment benefits under the proposal…”
Tag: Job losses
Unemployment Rate – Spain
Spain unemployment hitting nearly 1 of 4 workers, rises to 22.8 percent, Associated Press, January 27, 2012, Washington Post: “Spain’s brutal unemployment rate soared to nearly 23 percent Friday and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people – or almost one out of every four – out of work as the country slides toward recession. Spain’s National Statistics Institute reported that 5.3 million people were jobless at the end of December, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter – a jump in the unemployment rate from 21.5 percent to 22.9 percent in the fourth quarter. For those under age 25, the rate hit a whopping 48.5 percent, and the institute also reported that Spain now has 1.6 million households in which no one has work…”
Jobless Benefits – North Carolina, Ohio
- Extended jobless benefits likely to end soon for 4,777 in area, By Richard Craver, January 7, 2012, Winston-Salem Journal: “The final unemployment-benefit lifeline for about 23,000 North Carolinians appears likely to be cut off as scheduled on Jan. 28. Although Congress agreed Dec. 23 to extend federal benefits for two months, it appears unlikely that the General Assembly will agree to allow North Carolina to borrow more money from the U.S. Labor Department. As of Dec. 29, North Carolina had borrowed $2.67 billion from the federal government – the fourth-highest amount among 27 participating states – to pay up to 20 weeks of state-extended unemployment benefits. Those benefits are available only after claimants exhaust up to 26 weeks of initial state benefits and up to 53 weeks – representing four tiers – of federal benefits. There are 4,777 people in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina in the extended state benefit level. The state’s unemployment rate was 10 percent in November. The national rate was 8.5 percent in December, officials announced Friday…”
- Extra jobless benefits in peril, By Catherine Candisky, January 7, 2012, Columbus Dispatch: “More than 20,000 long-term unemployed Ohioans will lose up to 20 weeks of jobless benefits unless state lawmakers agree to take advantage of a more-favorable formula for determining which states qualify for the federal aid. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is urging legislators to make the fix, which will cost the state nothing because the benefits are funded entirely by the federal government, said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the state agency which oversees unemployment benefits. The Republican-controlled General Assembly is expected to oblige…”