By Sept. 6, many people will lose their unemployment benefits from the federal government. The Biden administration said it would no longer extend such benefits and hoped that the local governments would use their federal-issued funds to continue their unemployment benefits. However, at least 20 states announced they would not have programs that will help the unemployed.
The unemployment benefits established under the CARES Act have helped the unemployed population since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of the programs under this were extended a couple of times until the Biden administration decided to pull the plug.
One of the unemployment benefits set to end is the assistance that helps gig workers, who are not usually eligible for unemployment insurance. Another group covered by the federal unemployment benefits that are set to expire after Labor Day weekend are those unemployed for 27 weeks or more to be eligible for the CARES Act.
It is estimated that these programs helped around 7.5 million people across the United States. Per The Century Foundation, one in four workers relied on some form of financial assistance for the unemployed during the pandemic. The latest statistics also showed that around 9.8 million Americans remain unemployed to this day.
Although many states have already announced that they will have their state-issued stimulus check for the unemployed and other eligible people, at least 20 states said they would not set up benefit programs.
The Biden administration told local government officials that they should use their COVID-19 emergency funds to fill the unemployment gaps, but the following states said they would not do that.
These states are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
CNBC reached out to all 50 of the departments responsible for unemployment benefits in each state. All the states listed above responded they would not have any form of financial aid for the unemployed.
The other states that did not respond, like Arizona, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and South Dakota, had financial assistance programs for the unemployed, but these ended in June through August. They are most likely not to extend such programs.
