Close to 500k New Jersey workers collecting extended federal unemployment will lose the jobless benefits starting next week, as Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that the state would not use COVID-19 relief funds to extend the programs past the expiration date.
After extending federal unemployment benefits three times to people who typically aren’t eligible or those who exhausted state benefits, Congress declined to lengthen the programs past their Sept. 4, 2021, expiration date.Â
President Joe Biden encouraged states with high jobless rates to use federal recovery dollars to offer federal benefits for a more extended period, which Murphy rejected Monday, citing the cost. He estimated that it would cost at least $314 million a week, and perhaps “hundreds of millions of dollars more.”
“The proper way to extend federal [unemployment] benefits is through federal action, not a patchwork of state ones,” Murphy said during his coronavirus briefing. “And it should be noted here that no state is extending this benefit beyond September 4.”
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Jersey has the fifth-highest unemployment rate. Workers will no longer receive a supplemental payment of $300 a week on top of their regular benefits after Sept. 4.Â
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