Jobless claims stay high as Congress debates additional relief
State’s unemployed falls slightly, but federal assistance set to expire soon
New jobless claims rose nationally but fell slightly in Michigan last week with some federal unemployment benefit programs set to expire the day after Christmas and Congress struggling to reach a deal for additional coronavirus assistance for millions of unemployed workers.
Michigan reported 17,553 new jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 12, down slightly from the previous week, but national unemployment claims rose to 885,000 from 862,000 the week before, according to numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department.
The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency warned Monday that jobless benefits of 692,000 Michigan workers could be affected unless Congress extends special unemployment provisions passed last March in the CARES Act.
Scheduled to expire the day after Christmas is the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance expanded jobless benefits to workers not usually eligible for jobless benefits, such as the self-employed, independent contractors, and gig economy workers.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation provided for 13 weeks of additional jobless benefits to workers who ex
hausted their regular state unemployment benefits and federal reimbursements for work sharing benefits.
Congress is negotiating $900 billion in additional spending for workers and businesses impacted by the pandemic
“We’re hopeful that Congress will take action to protect access to critical unemployment assistance for Michigan workers whose jobs have been affected by COVID-19,” UIA Acting Director Liza Estlund Olson said in a release Monday. “Allowing these programs to expire is not only harmful to Michigan workers, but it would be devastating to Michigan’s economy.”
Michigan’s average weekly unemployment benefit is currently estimated at $319. The expiration of around 700,000 unemployment claims could result in over $220 million that would not go into workers’ pockets or the state’s economy each week, according to the UIA.
New and continuing jobless claims have held fairly steady in Michigan in recent weeks with new weekly claims running between 20,000 and 30,000 and continuing claims bouncing from around 160,000 to 210,000 depending on the week.
Yet the jobless numbers remain considerably higher than prepandemic levels from mid March when 5,338 new weekly claims were filed and there was 75,075 continuing claims in the state system.
Michigan remains under a temporary epidemic order from rising coronavirus cases until Dec. 20 that bans indoor restaurant dining and has closed stadiums, arenas, theaters, casinos and other gathering locations, exacerbating the economic struggles in parts of the economy, particularly the hospitality industry.