Extended unemployment ending for many
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October 18, 2012 |
The Idaho Department of Labor sent notices to
6,100 unemployment insurance claimants this week
that their extended benefits will terminate
December 30 and urging them to take full
advantage of the services the department offers
job seekers.
“Winter in Idaho is a tough time to be looking
for work,” the notice says, “which is why now is
the time to take advantage of the many local
office services we have to help you find a job.”
Right now about 150 people a week are exhausting
their extended benefits without finding work.
Since 2008 when unemployment insurance was
extended beyond the regular state benefits of 10
to 26 weeks, 95,000 Idaho workers have shared
$900 million in federally financed extended
benefits. Moody’s Economy.com estimates that
every dollar paid in extended unemployment
benefits generates $1.61 in economic activity
because benefit checks are immediately spent
locally on rent, utilities, food, clothes for
the family and other necessities.
About $1.3 billion has been paid in regular
state benefits since the beginning of 2008, a
month after the recession began.
At their peak, extended benefits added a maximum
of 27 to 73 additional weeks of payments to the
10 to 26 weeks provided under the traditional
state benefit program. As Idaho’s jobless rate
has declined, the extension has been trimmed
back three times earlier this year so that now
the maximum additional payments are 14 to 37
weeks, and all extended benefits will stop at
the end of the year.
Idaho’s unemployment rate has dropped from a
post-recession high 8.9 percent in July 2011 to
7.4 percent in August. At the peak of the
recession more than 41,000 workers were
receiving jobless benefits each week. That
number has fallen below 15,000 with fewer than
8,000 receiving regular state benefits for the
first time since November 2007.
Available through the 25 local offices around
the state are workshops on creating quality
résumés and online applications, training
resources to upgrade work skills, job interview
assistance including how to deal with questions
about gaps in work history, advice on overcoming
barriers to employment and tips on using social
media to network into a new job.
More information is available at
http://labor.idaho.gov/dnn/idl/JobSeekers.aspx.
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