North Carolina’s unemployed need higher and longer jobless benefits from the state more than ever now that additional federal benefits created during the COVID-19 pandemic expired this month, advocates for workers and the poor said Monday.

Several programs expired nationwide, including a $300-a-week Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefit and a $100-a-week payment for self-employed workers. All told, about 131,000 displaced workers in North Carolina who had been receiving benefits before the programs ended no longer qualify for federal or state benefits, according to the state Division of Employment Security.

The agency says an additional 38,000 people are still eligible for North Carolina state benefits, which max out at $350 per week for up to 13 weeks. But that’s hardly enough going forward to help people cover living expenses, speakers at a virtual news conference said.

Sen. Wiley Nickel, a Wake County Democrat, urged Republican colleagues again to pass his legislation to raise state benefits to $500 a week for up to 26 weeks. Nickel said the proposed expanded benefits, which align with what Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has sought, can be paid through the state’s unemployment trust fund, which had $2.8 billion earlier this year.

“We need to help our jobless workers and do the right thing,” Nickel said. “Folks are suffering and we have the ability to do this.”

GOP lawmakers have been cool to similar proposals since the current formula was passed in 2013, concerned about the trust fund’s health after it went deep in debt after the 2008 recession. They agreed with business owners who argue the additional federal benefits were a disincentive for displaced workers to take jobs, even as offered wages rose.

Monday’s speakers said there’s little evidence the federal benefits affected job-offer decisions. Many people can’t work because they lack affordable child care, or fear for their own health as coronavirus keeps spreading, state AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan said.

At the same time, job training and mandated “living” wages are needed to connect workers better with unfilled positions, said Alexandra Sirota, director of the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center.

“For many workers who toiled for low wages pre-pandemic and found little economic security, returning to low-wage work is not an option,” Sirota said.

 

Related Stories
‹
Audit: Too Many Payment Errors in Chief NC Jobless Program
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON There are too many monetary payment errors by North Carolina’s unemployment office for its chief jobless benefits program, according to a state auditor’s report released Wednesday. The performance audit of the state Division of Employment Security examined the North Carolina Unemployment Insurance program from April 2016 through March 2021. Auditors also […]
North Carolina Unemployment Rate 3.9% For January
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina’s unemployment rate continued on a downward trek in January, the state Commerce Department announced on Monday, even as regular recalculations of 2021 figures raised slightly recent monthly rates. January’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 3.9% compares to 4.1% in December. The December rate had been announced earlier this year as […]
North Carolina Unemployment Rate Falls to 3.9% in November
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina’s jobless rate for November fell to 3.9%, the state Commerce Department announced on Friday, as employment surged by one measurement released by the agency. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which compares to 4.1% in October, continued its year-plus long decline after the state’s economy shook off the tightest […]
North Carolina Unemployment Rate Drops to 4.1% in October
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina’s jobless rate fell further in October to 4.1%, the state Commerce Department said on Friday, as the overall number of people employed kept growing. The seasonally adjusted rate compares to a revised September rate of 4.3%. The number of people employed in the state grew in October by […]
North Carolina Tax Break for Business, Jobless Clears House
Legislation that would provide several hundred million dollars in North Carolina state income tax breaks for businesses and the unemployed received final House approval on Thursday. The bill, which received nearly unanimous support, would allow businesses to deduct from their taxable income expenses they paid for with proceeds from federal Paycheck Protection Program loans issued […]
North Carolina Unemployment Rate Falls to 5.2% In March
North Carolina’s unemployment rate fell sharply in March, state officials announced on Friday, as the number of people holding jobs grew by over 11,000 compared to the month before. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate decreased from 5.7% in February to 5.2%, the state Commerce Department said in a news release, marking sixth consecutive month of […]
Report: One-Third of NC Jobs Lost To COVID-19 Have Not Been Recovered
A year into the pandemic, North Carolina continues to experience sustained job losses and a slow recovery rate with low-income employees and service sectors being hit the hardest.
$10 Billion in Unemployment Claims Have Been Paid Out in NC
State and federal unemployment benefit payments that have been paid out during the coronavirus pandemic have exceeded $10 billion, according to the N.C. Division of Employment Security. The Winston-Salem Journal reported Tuesday that most of that money was paid out months ago. For instance, more than $8 billion was paid out between late March and the end […]
Pandemic Leads to 2.49 Million Unemployment Claims in NC
The number of people in North Carolina who’ve applied for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic began is at 1.31 million. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the figure was released Monday in a report from the N.C. Division of Employment Security. The agency said that some people have reached the end of one unemployment benefit program and […]
NC Unemployment Rate Falls to Nearly Half of Lockdown's Peak
North Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped markedly in August, according to state figures, falling to nearly half the record rate during the spring at the height of business and movement restrictions issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 6.5% jobless rate is 2 percentage points lower than the seasonally adjusted rate in July, according to the state […]
›