White House economic advisers and GOP lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell contend the extra payment acts as a disincentive for workers to seek new jobs. More than 30 million people are receiving unemployment benefits and new applications for jobless aid have started to rise again. But Republicans want to reduce a $600 enhanced …
State offices will need weeks to reprogram their systems to account for an extension of the $600 weekly federal payments that expire on Saturday. Tens of millions of laid-off American workers will go weeks without federal jobless aid — because Congress hasn’t renewed the benefits in time for overwhelmed state unemployment systems to adjust their …
A gap in federal unemployment benefits is now unavoidable. Here’s why. Read More »
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of those stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The Maine AFL-CIO, led by President Cynthia Phinney (IBEW), is publicly pushing its senators to …
Maine AFL-CIO Calls on Senate to Extend $600 Lifeline to Unemployed Workers Read More »
Laid off workers would see a lapse in the additional benefits — reducing their weekly income by more than two-thirds in many states. Congress will likely allow the $600-a-week boost in unemployment benefits to expire at the end of this month if lawmakers follow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposed timeline for the next round …
$600 weekly jobless benefit will likely lapse before more aid is passed Read More »
MLB and its players have begun discussing a way to restart the 2020 season following the COVID-19 delay. During this process, more than 1,000 players have been released from their contracts and have become free agents according to Forbes, while others are facing uncertainty on if they will also be released from their contracts or …
The continued influx of claims for jobless benefits more than three months into the pandemic is raising doubt among some economists that the U.S. will experience a rapid recovery. New unemployment claims continued to roll in last week at historically elevated levels, as American workers filed 1.5 million initial applications for aid, the Labor Department …
Workers filed 1.5M unemployment claims as infections spike Read More »
We’ve had plenty more news this week indicating just how bad things are economically now and how long they are likely to remain bad. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who has warned that gross domestic product could drop 30% this quarter, on Wednesday reinforced what other analysts have said about the crunch affecting American workers: ”It’s just going to be very …
Despite the drop in the unemployment rate in May, many economists feel further aid is needed. As Congress debates whether to allocate further relief to shore up the U.S. economy and get workers back on their feet, the unemployment rate has suddenly and unexpectedly fallen. Here’s a look at how the new numbers are shaping …
How the U.S. economic response could change as people go back to work Read More »
Most of the estimated 23 million independent contractors and gig workers made newly eligible last month for unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic are still waiting for relief. Six weeks after the pandemic set off a continuing wave of massive layoffs, only 21 states have started paying out benefits to self-employed workers and others not …
Millions of gig workers are still waiting for unemployment benefits Read More »
Restaurants say their industry needs its own targeted recovery fund because the bailout package Congress passed last month is making it more attractive for their staff to draw unemployment benefits than to continue working. The new Paycheck Protection Program waives repayment of small business loans if the borrower uses 75 percent of the money to …
Restaurants’ bailout problem: Unemployment pays more Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
