Benefits cut for the unemployed

Friday's disturbing U.S. jobs report isn't the only bad news faced by the nation's 13.7 million unemployed. By the end of June, federal extended unemployment benefits will have ended early for nearly 500,000 long-term unemployed people this year -- and more cuts are coming.

Also, states are tightening their requirements to qualify for unemployment checks.

Some examples

Fifteen states deny benefits to seasonal workers when their jobs are done, and more are moving in that direction, CNNMoney says. "Now, some policymakers are picking and choosing specific industries to restrict, with school contract workers being a common target," it says. Those are workers like bus drivers and maintenance. Teachers are already prohibited by federal law from collecting benefits.

Critics say Florida now puts up more impediments to getting benefits than any other state. Since August, those who apply have to do so online and also complete an online test of skills and meet other requirements. So many people have been denied that the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Says The Associated Press: 

In the first quarter of this year, 61,128 applicants were denied benefits for non-separation reasons such as the failure to meet reporting requirements and complete the skills assessment, the groups noted. That compares to just 19,676 in the first quarter of 2011 -- an increase of more than 200%.

Also, the state has reduced the length of benefits below 26 weeks as the jobless rate goes down. Lose your job next year and you'll likely receive only 20 weeks -- far below the 99 weeks, including federal benefits, when unemployment was at its worst.

Twenty-one of Florida's 67 counties had unemployment in excess of 9%, Ocala.com reported last month. (Post continues below.)

Michigan lawmakers cut state benefits from 26 to 20 weeks. (Meanwhile, Michigan state senators have passed a bill allowing work-sharing.)

Reduced federal benefits

Congress, when it last approved a federal extension of benefits in February, also decided to phase them out. Two separate programs are involved:

• Extended benefits. It provided 13 to 20 extra weeks of benefits in the hardest-hit states. It will end in September.
• Emergency unemployment compensation. The phase-out of this 34 to 53 weeks on top of state benefits will begin this month and conclude at the end of 2012.

How soon federal benefits end depends on your state's economic conditions. On the West Coast, "Californians are getting hit with a reduction in benefits because, despite a jobless rate of nearly 11%, unemployment is not worse than it was three years ago," NPR says. About 95,000 Californians abruptly lost federal jobless benefits last month, says The New York Times.

The National Employment Law Project predicts that hundreds of thousands more of the long-term unemployed in the U.S. will lose jobless benefits prematurely by the end of the year.

"Never before has Congress cut back on extended unemployment insurance when the unemployment rate remains so high," Christine Owens, the project's executive director, wrote.

What's happened to folks when their benefits ran out?

"The majority of them sold possessions, missed payments on their mortgages or credit cards," Carl Van Horn of the Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, told American Public Media's Marketplace. "One in five moved in with another family member. A very large percentage borrowed money from friends or family, or even their adult children."

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Those who support the cutbacks maintain that extended benefits encourage people not to get a new job. Others say the checks keep the wolf from the door and bolster the economy. People who get those checks are spending them, we guarantee.

Which side of the argument are you on? If you've suddenly lost your benefits, how are you coping? Has the job situation improved where you live?

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