The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity says Florida will stop participating in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, meaning the extra $300 per week unemployment benefit will end which is part of DEO’s “Return to Work” initiative.
DEO says there are more than 460,000 job postings online for those looking for work.
Florida will continue participating in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation. Those will expire on Sept. 6, 2021.
According to DEO, Florida has gained nearly 800,000 private-sector jobs since the pandemic began.
New applications for unemployment assistance in Florida fell, but unexpectedly climbed for the U.S. as a whole.
The number of Florida workers getting unemployment assistance for at least two straight weeks, fell from 141,484 to 122,885. It’s likely some of that decline reflected the expiration of benefits.
The state also kicked off the year fighting off waves of fraudulent claims. The number of claims flagged on the state’s dashboard for fraud detection fell from 56,718 to 37,275.
A new proposal in Tallahassee to replenish the state’s depleted unemployment insurance trust fund would require Floridians to pay sales taxes for online purchases. The fund has fallen by nearly $4 billion since the start of the pandemic
Congress approved a new relief bill that will see most Americans receive a $1,400 check and which extends the federal $300-per-week unemployment
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