2 pandemic jobless programs set to expire this week
Two federal programs created to help workers who became unemployed because of the pandemic wind down this week.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs end Saturday.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says pending applications and appeals for weeks on or before Sept. 4 will continued to be processed and considered after the programs expire.
Applications will also be accepted through Oct. 2, but only for weeks of unemployment before Sept. 4. Workers in that situation will have to have assistance from JFS staff.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance was created to help self-employed, independent contractors and others who aren’t eligible for traditional unemployment benefits. Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation provides additional weeks of traditional unemployment benefits for those who are still unemployed after exhausting their benefits.
As of July 31, more than 200,000 Ohio workers were getting PUA and more than 85,000 were receiving PEUC.
JFS say it is informing the affected workers of other resources available to them such as Ohiomeansjobs.com, and food, medical and employment assistance available through county Jobs and Family Services agencies and local Ohiomeansjobs centers.
The additional unemployment benefits were a portion of the stimulus benefits approved by Congress to help workers and businesses get through the pandemic.
These programs have helped cushion the blow to workers who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus, said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide.
“I think they have been successful,” he said. “For many people, the goal of the stimulus was to get cash into the hands of people and businesses.’’
The aid was especially important to workers in low-wage jobs in retail, restaurants and travel who have been hurt the most during the pandemic, he said. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams
“I think they have been successful. For many people, the goal of the stimulus was to get cash into the hands of people and businesses.” Ben Ayers Nationwide senior economist