Coronavirus: some US citizens will receive extra $600 in unemployment benefits
Some jobless Americans will start seeing bigger unemployment checks this week, depending on their status during the coronavirus pandemic in the US.
Millions of Americans have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and the federal government is planning on giving some jobless workers an extra $600 a week on top of their state benefits for four months as part of the $2 trillion stimulus bill the Senate passed unanimously at the end of March.
Individual states had to wait until the federal Department of Labor issued guidance on the extra funds, which will be fully covered by the federal government. That guidance came out this past weekend, a week after the bill was signed.
How long will you receive this payments?
The rollout comes at a time when states are overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of people filing for first-time benefits as companies large and small lay off and furlough workers amid the pandemic.
Nearly 10 million Americans submitted initial claims in the last two weeks of March. But countless more were unable to get through to their state unemployment agencies and complete their applications.
But those who haven't been able to file their initial claims yet shouldn't lose out. The federal enhancement will be paid retroactively to claims filed starting March 29 in most, if not all, states. The additional payments end by July 31 at the latest, under the current legislation.