Extended job benefits available for Floridians as first-time jobless claims soar

Extended unemployment benefits included in the latest federal stimulus package are starting to become available for Floridians out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state Department of Economic Opportunity said Monday.

Meanwhile, the weekly average of first-time jobless claims over the last two months of 2020 continued to exceed totals from 2009 and 2010, the last time the state faced a major recession.

Department of Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Paige Landrum said Monday the agency has started to implement benefit extensions while “working diligently to fully implement program updates.”

“We recommend that claimants continue to log-in to their CONNECT account every 48 hours to see if there are any additional steps they need to take on their claim,” Landrum said in an email, referring to the state’s CONNECT online unemployment portal.

The package that President Donald Trump signed Dec. 27 provides up to $300 a week in federal benefits. The federal assistance will run through March 13 and involves different programs.

The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program provides an additional $300 per week for Floridians receiving state or federal unemployment benefits. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program offers up to $275 a week for people who have exhausted state unemployment assistance. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, for gig workers and people who are self-employed, also provides up to $275 per week in benefits.

The extension is expected to increase the number of unemployment applicants.

With the state’s tourismsensitive economy bearing the brunt of pandemic shutdowns, Florida had a 6.4% unemployment rate in November, reflecting 651,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed. December numbers are slated to be released Jan. 22.

In an economic overview released last week, the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research noted the pandemic caused unemployment to spike from 2.8% in February to 13.8% in April, surpassing the 11.3% mark reached in the last major recession.

“The change was breathtaking,” the report said. “Over the space of two months, the unemployment rate shifted from a near 50-year low to a near 50year high.”