Unemployment Benefits Worth $600 Will End a Week Early, Labor Department Says

National Unemployment Rate Rises To 9.8 Percent — Pamphlets sit on a table during the Senior Job Fair at the Arcadia Community Center on October 2, 2009 in Arcadia, California. An additional 263,000 jobs were lost across the nation in September, worse than most analysts expected, bringing non-farm employment down to the 2004 level when the total number of US workers was about 7 million fewer. The job fair is sponsored by Recreation and Community Services Department Senior Citizens Services but is open to job seekers of all ages. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

The U.S Labor Department stated that the $600 weekly unemployment benefits are given to many Americans may be cut off one week earlier than expected at the end of July due to technicality.

Early cut-off

The Labor Department's schedule for distributing the unemployment benefits as stated CARES or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security is on July 31.

For the 33 million Americans collecting some form of unemployment benefits, the final day to get the expiring extra $600 will be on July 25, which is a Saturday, or July 26, which is a Sunday, as reported by Newsweek.

Based upon the state in which the recipient of the unemployment benefits lives, the Labor Department cautioned the public that the final payment maybe a week earlier than the original date of July 31. Following the July date finalized by the Department, the unemployment benefits will go back to the pre-coronavirus pandemic levels which depend on the state in which the funds are collected.

There are wide divides that exist between the state lines in terms of how much is paid out, as those who live in New York receive around $400 more every week than those who live in California. The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation or the FPUC is not payable for any week of unemployment ending after July 31, 2020.

In some states where the week of unemployment ends on a Saturday, the last week that FPUC may be given out is the week ending July 25, 2020, according to the directive that was drafted by the Labor Department back in April. The federal agency adds that for states where the week of unemployment ends on a Sunday, the last week that FPUC is payable is the week ending July 26, 2020.

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The unemployment benefits are set to end earlier than July 31 in states including California and New York, where the respective labor departments end payment on July 25 or on July 26. The other states like Tennessee will cut off the unemployment benefits on July 25.

Unemployment rate

Last week, around 1.5 million workers filed new claims for state unemployment insurance, according to the Labor Department. This is the 14th week in which that number has exceeded 1 million filings for assistance.

An additional 728,000 Americans filed for benefits from the PUA program or the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance which seeks to cover independent and self-employed contractors who may not otherwise be eligible for federal jobless benefits.

However, the 1.5 million figure is still far lower than the 6.5 million Americans who filed one week in early April. On May, 25 million people filed for unemployment and collected unemployment insurance. Across the United States, 1 in 5 workers have either recently applied to receive or received their unemployment benefits as the coronavirus pandemic continued into late summer.

The congressional lawmakers do not have any plans for additional unemployment benefits after July 31, with the Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump hinting that they would prefer to pay employers to restart their businesses instead of paying people who are unemployed.

The other Trump administration officials have also suggested that if a new stimulus plan will be created, it will target businesses instead of individuals for direct deposits.