Title: Unemployment benefits: What to know if you're laid off again
Headings: Yes, you can get unemployment benefits if you’re laid off again. Here’s what you need to know
Yes, you can get unemployment benefits if you’re laid off again. Here’s what you need to know
Key Points
Amount of benefits
A year of unemployment benefits
Caveats
What happens when the ‘benefit year’ ends?

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The CARES Act created this PUA program to offer unemployment benefits to some groups typically ineligible for traditional state aid (such as self-employed and gig workers). The program expires at the end of this calendar year. 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. What happens when the ‘benefit year’ ends? High levels of joblessness could persist into next year. That could prove problematic for workers who’ve exhausted or nearly depleted their benefits, Evermore said. VIDEO
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While a person can reapply for unemployment after the end of their current “benefit year” — in March 2021, let’s say, which would mark roughly a year from the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S. — their aid may be much less than it had been previously. They may also be deemed ineligible for any benefits. That’s because states typically use a person’s earnings over the prior four quarters to determine the amount of their weekly unemployment pay. But a long spell of joblessness would likely mean workers don’t have enough wages over that period to qualify for benefits.