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A program that provided an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits in Michigan ends Saturday, the state s Unemployment Insurance Agency said Wednesday.
The agency notified claimants in early March that the program, called Extended Benefits, was ending, but didn t provide a timeline as to when benefits would expire.
But there is some good news for the 16,000 claimants who are receiving these benefits. They are likely eligible for benefits under two federal programs that were implemented late last month, Liza Estlund Olson, acting director of Michigan s UIA, said in a news release.
Those two programs are Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which extends benefits for those on regular state benefits, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which offers benefits to those who normally wouldn t qualify for benefits, such as freelancers and contract workers. Benefits through those two programs are available in Michigan until Sept. 4.
SOM
Unemployment Extended Benefits program ends April 17
April 14, 2021
Due to the State of Michigan s lower unemployment rate, the U.S. Department of Labor notified the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency to confirm that our state s Extended Benefits (EB) program will no longer be payable after the week ending April 17, 2021. Extended Benefits are available when a Michigan s total unemployment rate averages 6.5% or higher for three consecutive months.
The EB program goes into effect when the unemployment rate is high and provides an additional 13-20 weeks of benefits for those who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits and other extension programs. Fortunately, with the federal extensions that were implemented on March 27, claimants who were on the Extended Benefits program most likely will be able to receive benefits through other federal programs such as Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), said Liza Es
Labor and Economic Opportunity
UIA Stops New Wave of Imposter Claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Residents warned of new wave of criminal attempts to file imposter claims in pursuit of benefits
April 7, 2021
Michigan s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), like other states across the country, remains under attack by criminals. Since Friday, April 2, Michigan has seen a dramatic increase in new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims likely filed by criminals that have been halted for identity verification. No payments have been sent to the approximately 100,000 flagged claims. Because of the additional fraud protections we developed last year at the onset of these coordinated attacks on state unemployment agencies, these fraudulent claims have been stopped and no payments have been sent, said Liza Estlund Olson, acting director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency. We continue to be vigilant in protecting the integrity of the system and the benefits for those w
Adrienne Roberts and Sarah Alvarez
Detroit Free Press and Outlier Media
A stimulus package signed into law Thursday by President Joe Biden will extend unemployment benefits through the fall, bringing relief to the hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents who have been out of work in the pandemic.
As thousands of new jobless claims roll in weekly and the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency works to implement the unemployment extensions in the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan called the American Rescue Plan, it is still working through a backlog of claims.
There are 30,000 people throughout the state waiting, sometimes for months, for the unemployment benefits they most likely should have already received.