By Susan A. Baird
PBN Web Editor
CRANSTON – Some long-term job-seekers in Rhode Island will become eligible for extended unemployment benefits starting July 6, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
Up to 13 weeks of additional payments will be available to Rhode Islanders who are actively looking for work and have exhausted their regular unemployment insurance, the DLT said. Legislation now before Congress would offer extended benefits to all states, and might lengthen the time for which such benefits are available, the department added. [That measure was signed into law June 30. (READ MORE)]
The Rhode Island extension was triggered when the state jobless rate for the past 13 weeks exceeded the 6.5-percent threshold set by state law. That makes the new DLT announcement the silver lining of last week’s report that the statewide unemployment rate surged 1.1 percentage points in May to a 14-year high of 7.2 percent. (READ MORE)
“Extended benefits will provide a stable income for those who continue to seek gainful employment during a difficult economy,” Sandra M. Powell, the DLT’s director, said in a statement.
Between 8,000 and 10,800 job-seekers may be eligible for extended benefits, at the same rate as their regular jobless benefits, according to estimates by Raymond Filippone, the DLT’s assistant director of income support. To be eligible, claimants must have had an unemployment claim with a benefit year ending this July 12 or later on which they are no longer collecting benefits; must be partially or totally unemployed during the week for which they are making the claim; must be able and available for full-time work; and must be actively seeking work; and must meet certain other earning and eligibility requirements, he said.
Powell urged job-seekers not to become discouraged. “Even during recessionary times, Rhode Island has recorded between 65,000 and 70,000 job openings each business quarter, as people change jobs, leave jobs or become promoted,” she said. And staff at the DLT’s netWORKri centers across the state offer free assistance with résumés, job searches and interviewing skills.
Notices will be mailed next week to those it considers potentially eligible for extended benefits, the DLT said. No eligibility claims will be accepted before Monday, July 7.
Determining eligibility may take up to three weeks, the department warned, but payments will stretch back to the time of application for those found eligible.
The only other state now offering such extended benefits is Alaska, which relies on a different economic formula to trigger the program, the DLT said.
Additional information on the Rhode Island labor market is available from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training at www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi or by calling the DLT’s Unemployment Insurance Service Center at 243-9100.
