Florida cancels $300 Unemployment Assistance, but there’s one last chance

“Florida employers are also seeing job growth, as more Floridians, including some who left the workforce entirely, are now enthusiastically entering the workforce,” said Dane Eagle, secretary of the Department of Economic Opportunity for Florida. Florida in a press release justifying the end of the aid.

“The transition of this benefit will help meet the demands of small and large companies that are ready to hire and expand their workforce,” said the public servant.

In this way, Florida is the last state led by Republicans to opt out of the federal unemployment assistance programs, adding 23 “red states” that, after the start of the post-pandemic economic recovery, will no longer distribute more money.

Florida’s unemployment rate stood at 4.8% during the month of April and represents a large reduction from 14.2%, which was reached during the peak of the pandemic. However, it is 1.5% higher than the 3.3% unemployment rate that was in the state before the arrival of the coronavirus.

“By all accounts, 100% federal unemployment assistance has been immensely effective in stopping any rise in poverty during the pandemic and supporting the predominantly low-wage workforce and people of color that have been left out of a dramatically divided economy,” Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation, told Yahoo Money.

The economist by profession also meant that this aid meant an injection of consumer money to boost the Florida economy in the worst moments of the pandemic.

Am I in time to apply for an unemployment benefit?

Yes, the program will end in Florida on June 26 and until that date you can submit applications.

Eligibility criteria vary from state to state, but the general rule of thumb is that you should apply if you lost your job or were suspended through no fault of your own. This would include a job lost directly or indirectly due to the pandemic.

In February, the Department of Labor updated its eligibility requirements to include people who refused to return to work due to unsafe coronavirus regulations.

Because states cover 30% to 50% of a person’s salary, there is not a single sum you can expect nationwide. Each state’s labor office provides information about your particular unemployment benefits.

States where economic aid for unemployment will be eliminated soon

• Alabama: June 19
• Alaska: June 12
• Arizona: July 10
• Arkansas: June 26
• Florida: June 26
• Georgia: June 26
• Idaho: June 19
• Indiana: July 19
• Iowa: June 12
• Mississippi: June 12
• Missouri: June 12
• Montana: June 27
• New Hampshire: June 19
• North Dakota: June 19
• Ohio: June 26
• Oklahoma: June 26
• South Carolina: June 30
• South Dakota: June 26
• Tennessee: July 3
• Texas: June 26
• Utah: June 26
• West Virginia: June 19
• Wyoming: June 19
• Florida: June 26