Title: What to know about unemployment benefits if you're laid off again
Headings: You may get laid off again. Here’s what to know about your unemployment benefits
You may get laid off again. Here’s what to know about your unemployment benefits
Key Points
OLIVIER DOULIERY | AFP | Getty Images
Amount of benefits
A year of unemployment benefits
What happens when the ‘benefit year’ ends?

Content: This amount would be available over several periods of unemployment during that time period. Going forward, the person would no longer get an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits that the CARES Act offered through July 31. Federal lawmakers are currently deciding whether to extend or lessen the aid. Any new benefits would likely be retroactive, meaning recipients would get amounts due for weeks of unemployment extending back to the end of July. Zoom In Icon
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Workers may have to reapply for benefits when transitioning into new periods of duration (for example, when transitioning from traditional state benefits to the extra 13 weeks provided by the CARES Act), though states vary in their processes. The CARES Act offered some groups, like self-employed and gig workers, a total 39 weeks of unemployment benefits, via the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. It expires at the end of the year. These workers are typically ineligible for traditional state benefits. What happens when the ‘benefit year’ ends? High levels of joblessness could persist into next year.