Federal government approves $300 jobless benefit for NJ

TRENTON » The federal government has approved New Jersey’s application for a $300 benefit for people who lost work because of COVID-19, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday.

Murphy said it will take the state Labor Department until nextmonth to come up with internal programming to distribute the funds. He added that the money was originally intended to go out weekly but instead will be distributed as a lump sum.

That benefit was announced in August by Republican President Donald Trump in the absence of a deal with Congress to renew jobless benefits.

The state is not opting to chip in an additional $100 a week, as envisioned under the president’s proposal. Murphy cited the cost to the state as a factor.

Murphy also reported Friday that more than 600 new positive cases of the virus from overnight, putting the total at more than 202,000. There were seven deaths reported since Thursday, putting the death toll at 14,306.