Julie Antoine wants to go back to work.
The 60-year-old unemployed travel agent used to make around $7,000 a month working in Gainesville, Florida. But since losing her two jobs at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, she has relied on the state s unemployment benefit, which tops out at $275 a week, an amount equal to what Antoine used to make in two days. It is nothing close to what I was earning . even with the (extra) $600 and the $300 that they were giving, she says of the temporary federal boosts to Florida s unemployment checks. I’d rather work and make $7,000 a month than not work and make $1,100.