Extended jobless benefits began running out today for the 400,000 New Jerseyans who are claiming unemployment, after Congress failed to approve a fifth emergency extension that would have raised the maximum claims period to 99 weeks. Nationwide, about 2 million Americans will be affected by the curtailed benefits.
First-time filers in New Jersey are now only eligible for 26 weeks of state-funded benefits, plus an additional 20 weeks that are triggered when the unemployment rate is high, as it is now.
Continuing claimants, meanwhile, will be phased out of their extended benefits and allowed to receive at least 20 more weeks of unemployment checks, depending on how long they have been collecting. Here’s how it worked until today: After collecting the state-funded 26 weeks, claimants received four tiered extensions of 20, 14, 13 and six additional weeks, before moving on to one final claim period of 20 weeks. Starting today, claimants will be allowed to finish out their current tier before progressing directly to the 20-week period. Read more in Star Ledger.
This is…really, really bad. I can’t believe congress is really going to abandon it’s people when they failed to improve the economy in the slightest since our dear president took office.
sad but listen, two years on the unemployment rolls is enough. we cannot continue to pay these benefits indefinitely
Extending the benifits only gives people more reason not to look for a job.
Everybody Loved Obama he is worthless.. He have been too Busy worrying about International Arabs Country and use Billon of Dollars of Tax Money.. Look at American people who are now going have a largest number of Homeless.. While this President Rate Falls to 0.. Remember when he became the President he first used our 8 Billons Dollars Tax Money For Heavy Security around D.C. Where he was walking to the White House… This Man derserved a Smacked on his face where we paid for his stiches from the Baseball Game Cuppah.. He is making NJ Unployments Raise Higher and all over… Many more people will increased Crime Rate even Higher.. Many more Homeless will be on the street… We will get worst if we don’t kick him out of the office any sooner..
I have been unemployed over a year, and they stop sending me checks for over 6 months!
Why didn’t you post what I wrote?
A friend of mine who owns a landscaping business told me that he advertised an opening for a job in his business. He received approximately fifty phonecalls. Out of those 50, 48 told him that if they would be paid on the books they wouldn’t take the job because they would lose their unemployment benefits. So they didn’t take the job.
In the beginning of this year (I think it was around March) there were a few weeks when Congress hadn’t extended the unemployment benefits, and all the 99-ers suddenly weren’t getting unemployment benefits for those few weeks. My friend told me that during those weeks, his phones were ringing off the hook with people begging him for jobs. The phone calls stopped as soon as unemployment benefits were reinstated.
When you stop paying people not to work, they will be forced to take jobs. It’s as simple as that. (Even jobs that they don’t “love”, – why should the American taxpayer pay you not to work because you haven’t found the job that you “love”?)