Unemployement benefits extended

The deadline to apply for an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits was extended when President Obama signed an extension to the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program as part of the federal stimulus package.

Those who have exhausted current unemployment benefits and are actively seeking employment will now have until Dec. 31 to apply for additional weeks.

The former deadline was March 31.

Utah has almost 44,000 unemployed workers who now are filing for weekly unemployment benefits. Last year during this time, only about 16,500 unemployed workers were filing.

The federal stimulus package also included a provision to increase the weekly unemployment benefit by $25 per week for all unemployment claims from Feb. 22 to Dec. 31.

Unemployment Insurance Director Bill Starks said the additional benefits should help individuals who have become unemployed through no fault of their own, as well as help provide a positive stabilizing impact on the local economy.

Source: http://www.standard.net/