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Unemployed Workers To Get Extended Benefits

Nov. 12, 2002
No. 02-64

State triggers back onto extended benefits due to federal formula

Unemployment benefits for eligible, jobless Alaskans will be extended the week ending Nov 16, 2002.

According to Bill Kramer, Assistant Director for Unemployment Insurance with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Alaska's total unemployment rate has recently risen above 6.5%, triggering a federally-determined formula that controls whether or not a state can pay up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment under the Extended Benefit (EB) program.

Labor is sending letters to potentially eligible workers notifying them that the first payable week for Extended Benefits is the week ending November 16, 2002. Those who have a benefit claim year ending November 10, 2002 or later, and are not eligible for other unemployment benefits, may be entitled to Extended Benefits.

Additionally, those workers not qualifying for Extended Benefits may meet the criteria for the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program, in effect since Governor Knowles signed an agreement with the federal government in March 2002, a result of Congress' economic stimulus package. TEUC eligibility differs from the EB program requirements, but both are wholly or partially federally funded.
Kramer said that historically the state triggers onto Extended Benefits according to the federal formula during winter months, and suspends them during months when more work is available. Unemployment insurance benefits are cycled back into communities where people are temporarily out of work, helping to promote economic stability in the state.

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