At least 13,000 Mainers stand to benefit from an extension of unemployment benefits passed last week in Congress.
The 2,400 people who have exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits will receive new aid, and another 11,000 currently receiving benefits will see them extended, according to Capitol News Service. The federal legislation adds an additional 14 weeks of unemployment benefits in all states, as well as another six weeks for workers in states where the unemployment rate is 8.5% or higher, Maine’s Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman told the news service. Maine’s unemployment rate in September, the most recent available, was 8.5%.
This is the fourth benefit program extension passed by Congress.
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