TruthOut10
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- Dec 3, 2012
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Later this week, North Carolina is expected to drastically reduce unemployment benefits for its residents, who face the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the country. The state joins seven others that have trimmed back benefits for the jobless since the recession.
Beginning in July, North Carolina would slash the maximum number of weeks a jobless worker can collect unemployment insurance from 26 to as few as 12. The new law would also reduce the maximum weekly benefit from $530 to $350 per person.
North Carolina's cuts are the deepest to unemployment benefits in the country and mean the state will also lose out on federal unemployment benefits, according to a new report on the proposal from the National Employment Law Project. Federal benefits are linked to the number of weeks and amount of money a person receives from his or her state. Approximately 80,000 North Carolina workers would be affected, the report found.
It was bad enough when legislators in high-unemployment states like Michigan and Florida made drastic cuts to their unemployment insurance programs, while so many remained out of work, Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, said in a statement released with the report. But the situation in North Carolina -- cutting state benefits and rejecting federal aid -- is beyond the pale."
The changes in North Carolina highlight one of the most painful consequences of the economic downturn: long-term unemployment. The average length of joblessness is 35 weeks, and even as the national unemployment rate hovers at nearly 8 percent, the safety net for out-of-work Americans continues to shrink.
North Carolina Unemployment Benefits Cuts Harshest In Country: Report
Beginning in July, North Carolina would slash the maximum number of weeks a jobless worker can collect unemployment insurance from 26 to as few as 12. The new law would also reduce the maximum weekly benefit from $530 to $350 per person.
North Carolina's cuts are the deepest to unemployment benefits in the country and mean the state will also lose out on federal unemployment benefits, according to a new report on the proposal from the National Employment Law Project. Federal benefits are linked to the number of weeks and amount of money a person receives from his or her state. Approximately 80,000 North Carolina workers would be affected, the report found.
It was bad enough when legislators in high-unemployment states like Michigan and Florida made drastic cuts to their unemployment insurance programs, while so many remained out of work, Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, said in a statement released with the report. But the situation in North Carolina -- cutting state benefits and rejecting federal aid -- is beyond the pale."
The changes in North Carolina highlight one of the most painful consequences of the economic downturn: long-term unemployment. The average length of joblessness is 35 weeks, and even as the national unemployment rate hovers at nearly 8 percent, the safety net for out-of-work Americans continues to shrink.
North Carolina Unemployment Benefits Cuts Harshest In Country: Report
