President-elect Joe Biden released his anticipated Covid relief plan, which boosts federal unemployment payments to $400 per week through September.
Six days before he’s sworn into office, President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday released his anticipated Covid relief plan, which includes boosting federal unemployment payments to $400 per week and extending them through September. Under current policy signed into law Dec.27,2020, enhanced benefits include an additional $300 per week on top of state aid through March 14, and federal programs phase out completely by April 11. But under the Biden proposal, federal jobless programs will continue through the fall until the end of September. Some 965,000 Americans filed for state unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to the Labor Department — the highest number of first-time filers since August. Another 284,000 applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which supports gig workers and those not traditionally eligible for state aid.
