Florida | Loss of unemployment benefits coming

Think of it as an improving economy’s collateral damage.

Some 44,000 people throughout Florida are scheduled to have their extended federal unemployment benefits cut off May 12, regardless of how long the payments were slated to continue.

In Sarasota and Manatee counties, some 600 jobless workers are expected to be affected, state officials said, though at this point it is unclear which individuals will lose the benefits.

It is likely, however, that many of those who will be affected have been out of work for long periods of time, sparking a cycle that perpetuates joblessness, experts note. Studies show employers are often unwilling to consider the long-term unemployed for jobs because of perceptions that as workers they are somehow flawed.

The benefits will cease because of the way Congress devised a 99-week extended benefit program last year.

Under terms of that extension, the federal government could stop writing benefit checks when jobless rates hit certain benchmarks for improvement.

In Florida, the Labor Department established a benchmark of 9 percent unemployment.

Source:

via Jobless facing loss of unemployment benefits | HeraldTribune.com.