Unemployment

Nine states will be ending their enhanced unemployment benefits on Saturday, cutting off aid to more than 440,000 out-of-work adults, according to an estimate from the left-leaning Century Foundation. The Republican governors of the states argue that the benefits aren't necessary as the economy recovers, but workers and advocates say the loss of benefits will harm them.

California will no longer pay out unemployment to individuals that are not actively seeking new jobs starting early next month, the state's Employment Development Department (EDD) announced on Thursday after the state government paid out more than $128 billion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under normal circumstances, jobless...

Millions of taxpayers who are expecting an additional refund check related to unemployment compensation are checking their bank accounts this week and wondering if the much-anticipated payment will finally arrive. They have good reason to wonder: After the Internal Revenue Service announced that it had sent out the first round...

Millions of Americans who collected unemployment insurance in 2020 are due for a federal refund if they filed their taxes early this year. That's because the March American Rescue Plan made the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits ($20,400 for married couples filing jointly) tax-free. Now, some 13 million taxpayers who paid income tax on those benefits before the change in the law went into effect could get a chunk of money back.

Louisiana is the latest to join the list of states planning to end the $300-a-week-benefit program -- it's also the first state with a Democratic governor to end the benefits. Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri have already terminated the program, with eight more states ending their pandemic-related unemployment benefits on June 19. For people living in one of the 26 states ending participation before the Sept. 6 federal cutoff, the long-term unemployed and freelancers will lose their jobless aid completely.

Since the start of the pandemic, millions of people have filed for unemployment. Many of them may have been criminals. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and since many were living paycheck to paycheck before the pandemic, they had no money in savings to fall back on once they were out of work. It's for this reason that unemployment benefits have been such a lifeline.

For two years, John White has been trying to get a permanent job at the company where he's a contractor, but his applications to open positions there have been rejected five times. Company policy forbade contractors from working remotely during the pandemic, so even while his colleagues worked from home, White has been commuting to work. "I've physically been in the office every day that I have worked here," recalled White, 38.

Jobless workers in yet another state will soon see their weekly benefits shrink. When the American Rescue Plan was signed into law earlier this year, the U.S. economy wasn't in such a great place, and the vaccine rollout had, thus far, been slow. As such, that relief bill contained a...

More than 400,000 out-of-work Americans are poised to lose their unemployment benefits this weekend as eight states prematurely drop out of a pandemic relief program that boosted jobless aid by $300 a week. Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming will terminate the extra unemployment...

The U.S. government is clear that unemployment fraud is a huge problem, and has budgeted $2 billion to try to fix it. Where it stands: The Department of Labor inspector general reported last month that 20 states did not perform what was required of them in terms of detecting improper payments, and 44 states did not do what was recommended (but not required).

COVID-19, and the government’s response to it, created a perfect storm for unemployment fraud — which Axios reported could have accounted for half of all the payments made throughout the pandemic. Why it matters: The government has not officially audited the issue. But there are good reasons to believe that...

Louisiana will become the first Democrat-led state to end federal enhanced unemployment benefits early, joining 25 Republican-led states that announced they will end the programs before they were set to run out in September. Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards signed a bill into law on Wednesday that ends the $300-a-week...

In less than a month, nearly 4 million Americans will lose the additional unemployment coverage they've been receiving. So far, Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri ended the $300-a-week benefit program. This Saturday, June 19, more states are also ending their pandemic-related unemployment benefits. For people living in one of the 25 states ending participation before the Sept. 6 federal cutoff, the long-term unemployed and freelancers will lose their jobless aid completely.

Senate Bill 285: Require ID to vote, authorize exceptions: Passed 19 to 16 in the Senate. To require a person to show an original or a copy of identification when requesting an absentee ballot in person or by mail, with those unable to do so getting a "provisional" ballot. Also passed were Senate Bills 303 and 304 to authorize the provisional ballots, which require a voter to show documents within six days that verify his or her identity and address for the vote to be counted.