TALLAHASSEE –Florida plans to stop providing $300 a week in additional federal unemployment benefits as it pushes for people to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Jim Turner/News Service of Florida
May 24, 2021
TALLAHASSEE - Florida plans to stop providing $300 a week in additional federal unemployment benefits as it pushes for people to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced Monday that starting June 26 the state will no longer participate in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. State and business officials have argued that, when added to state unemployment payments, the $300 a week in federal aid is keeping people from returning to jobs.
After a report Friday showed that an estimated 487,000 Floridians were unemployed in April out of a workforce of 10.24 million, the Department of Economic Opportunity called Monday’s move “another key step to returning more Floridians to work,” dubbing it the “Return to Work” initiative.