More than 1 million people will see a loss or reduction in jobless benefits due to state withdrawal from federal unemployment programs.
More than 1 million Americans will lose unemployment benefits early as a result of states’ decisions to cut off federal aid to workers. By Thursday morning, at least 15 states, all led by Republican governors, had announced they would end their participation in pandemic-era unemployment programs. As a result, workers will no longer get a $300 weekly supplement to benefits. Those ineligible for state-level benefits — like the long-term unemployed, self-employed and gig workers — will lose aid entirely. Some states are cutting off benefits as early as June 12 and others as late as July 10 — two months before their official expiration. The American Rescue Plan offers the aid to Sept.6. The governors’ withdrawal will impact 895,000 workers in a dozen states, according to an analysis published Thursday by The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank. The states include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming. They will forgo a cumulative $4.7 billion in assistance, according to the report. The governors of Arizona, Georgia and South Dakota — which weren’t included in the analysis — also announced they would exit the federal programs. Their withdrawal would impact about 500,000 more people, according to a CNBC analysis of Labor Department data. (It’s unclear if gig workers and the long-term unemployed would lose benefits entirely in Arizona; they may only lose the $300 supplement.
