- About 23,000 people in Connecticut will lose their unemployment benefits when supplemental federal aid expires on Saturday
- Connecticut Department of Labor believes this and other factors will help spur thousands of people to join the state’s labor market
- CT DOL official says risk of increasing COVID-19 infections is currently the biggest threat to Connecticut’s economic recovery.
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
Approximately 23,000 Connecticut residents will lose their unemployment benefits over the weekend as federal programs providing supplemental assistance come to an end, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor.
Danté Bartolomeo, interim commissioner of the CT DOL, says he expects thousands of people to begin joining the state’s labor market as a result of the programs’ expiration as well as factors like the reopening of schools, daycare spots becoming available, and Connecticut’s high COVID-19 vaccination rate. Bartolomeo says 32,000 people found jobs in Connecticut over the summer.
A $300-a-week supplement, created under the CARES Act to provide additional support to those who lost their job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other federal programs will end on Saturday. About 48,000 Connecticut residents using state or extended unemployment programs won’t be affected by the change, while 54,000 people are receiving benefits under a federal program but may be eligible to transfer to state assistance.
- Another 11,000 residents will lose their benefits when the state triggers off the federal High Extended Benefits program on Sept. 11
- Connecticut has disbursed $9.7 billion in unemployment assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020; in a typical year, about 40,000 filers receive $600 million in benefits
- The state’s unemployment insurance trust fund currently has $271.4 million, and Connecticut has borrowed $725 million in federal money to date to replenish the fund
- Patrick Flaherty, CT DOL’s director of research, says he considers the risk of increasing COVID-19 infections to be the greatest threat to Connecticut’s economic recovery