Colorado to start rolling out federal unemployment benefits next week; unemployment rate hits 8.4%
FPUC weekly benefit will be first to roll out
Colorado plans to start rolling out benefits in phases for people eligible for some federal unemployment benefits starting âlate next weekâ and will begin notifying those people early next week, officials with the Department of Labor and Employment said Friday.
By: Blair Miller , Liz Gelardi
Posted at 8:24 AM, Jan 25, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-25 10:24:57-05
DENVER â Colorado plans to start rolling out benefits in phases for people eligible for some federal unemployment benefits starting âlate next weekâ and will begin notifying those people early next week, officials with the Department of Labor and Employment said Friday.
Colorado Dept of Labor explains recent unemployment problems, new system krdo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from krdo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AP
Pedestrians wear face coverings while passing by a sign on an empty restaurant/retail space Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Update, 1/28/21:
On Jan. 28, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced that it would begin paying extended PEUC and PUA benefits to some people on the week of Feb. 1. The $300-a-week FPUC boost was also scheduled to start that week.
Our original story continues below.
Colorado is another step closer to providing the extended federal benefits that many have been waiting on as the state has transitioned to a new computer system for unemployment benefits. Officials’ earlier projections were late January or early February and now they hope to start contacting Coloradans by Jan. 29 at the earliest to get the ball rolling.
Last year was one of Bonnie Kentâs most successful ever working as a Realtor in Colorado Springs â so when she found a letter in her mailbox in December notifying her that state unemployment benefits had been approved under her name, the irony wasnât lost on her.
âThe form came to me at my current address under my maiden name,â she told the
Business Journal. âI havenât used my maiden name since 1999.â
Now, two decades later, a fraudster appears to have used Kentâs old surname, along with other personal information, to file a fraudulent unemployment insurance claim through the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.