Federal unemployment programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, came to an end on Sept. 4. All those on unemployment will now receive $300 less in weekly benefits and experts said it will likely hurt Black and brown workers the hardest.

Enhanced UI benefits disproportionately support Black and brown workers who have historically been left behind in recoveries. According to Lindsay Owens, executive director for Groundwork Collaborative, “the historic inequities in the labor market will be laid even more bare” after Monday’s benefits cutoff.

After Labor Day, roughly 7.5 million people lost key pandemic-era unemployment benefits established by the March 2020 CARES Act. Dr. Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork, reacted to the impending unemployment cliff with the following statement:

“Amid increasing uncertainty in the trajectory of the pandemic, Monday’s unemployment cliff could not come at a worse time. Millions will suffer as they lose this critical source of income and the loss of spending will suppress job growth, setting us back yet again in our efforts for an inclusive and equitable recovery.”

Will County’s unemployment rate for July 2021, the most recent statistical labor data available, was 7.1 percent (24,787 unemployed), a decrease of more than 1 percent from June’s rate of 8.2 percent. The state’s average was 7 percent. The good news is the 7.1 percent figure for Will County is significantly lower than the 11.6 percent from a year earlier, when the COVID pandemic was raging and unemployment rates had skyrocketed throughout the country.

Ending UI benefits early did not bring more people back to work. New research found that states ending benefits early didn’t meaningfully boost employment and instead led workers to decrease spending to compensate, hurting local economies.

UI benefits have served as an economic lifeline for millions of workers and families. The emergency boosts to UI during the pandemic — $600 a week until July 31 of last year and now $300 — have been especially critical since UI benefits in many states only cover a fraction of worker’s lost wages.

Policies that protect workers from being forced into jobs with poverty-level wages are good for our economy, full stop. Strong social safety net measures like UI make our labor market stronger, build worker power, and are essential to an equitable and just recovery.

UI benefits boost consumer spending and generate growth that reverberates throughout the economy. Enhanced UI benefits are an essential part of a healthy recovery that centers workers and local communities and should continue until we are on stronger economic footing.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) reminded claimants late last month that federal unemployment programs were coming to an end on Sept. 4, 2021. These programs include:

▪ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

▪ Provided access to 100% federally funded unemployment benefits to individuals not traditionally eligible to receive unemployment benefits, such self-employed workers.

▪ Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)

▪ Provided an additional weekly $300 supplemental payment in 100% federally funded benefits to claimants who received at least $1 of regular or federal unemployment benefits.

▪ Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)

▪ Provided additional weeks of 100% federally funded unemployment benefits to claimants who exhausted all eligible weeks of benefits in the state’s regular unemployment system.

▪ Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC)

▪ Provided an additional weekly $100 supplemental payment in 100% federally funded benefits to eligible claimants who earned at least $5,000 in self-employment income in addition to wages earned with a chargeable employer.

The expiration of these programs has no impact on the state’s regular unemployment system or the claimants receiving regular unemployment benefits.

IDES is also reminding claimants to access their IllinoisJobLink.com account, an employment website with more than 100,000 job postings and can be used as a tool by jobseekers to find their next employment opportunity. Claimants who have applied for unemployment benefits already have a username and password for the site and are encouraged to login and finish registration and create or upload a resume.

As the economy continues to heal from the pandemic, individuals may still be in need of ongoing or additional assistance and resources from the state. The following departments and their programs may be able to assist:

▪ Illinois Department of Human Services

▪ Cash assistance

▪ Childcare

▪ House services

▪ Food assistance (SNAP, WIC, and more)

▪ Illinois Housing Development Authority

▪ Rental Assistance

▪ Homeowner Assistance

▪ Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

▪ LIHEAP

▪ Get Covered Illinois

▪ Health insurance

More information about resources and assistance can be found on the state’s Covid-19 resource page or on the IDES website. rex@thetimesweekly.com