Extended benefits program to expire; unemployment benefits to continue through September 19

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Department of Labor announced that the Extended Benefits (EB) program will expire on August 29. ADOL will continue to pay these benefits through September 19.

This is a separate program from the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program that was enacted under the CARES Act. PEUC provides for an additional 13 weeks of regular unemployment following exhaustion.

The EB program is a federal program that is triggered when a state’s insured unemployment rate exceeds 5.9%. Alabama’s weekly insured unemployment rate of 6.11% triggered the state onto a 13-week EB period beginning the week of May 31. It is usually available during times of adverse economic conditions. The last time Alabama offered the EB programs was during the Great Recession of 2008. Alabama will trigger off of the program on August 29, when the weekly insured unemployment rate will drop to 4.86%.

While the EB program was available for up to 13 weeks, not all claimants were eligible to receive all weeks.

ADOL also released the weekly unemployment claims numbers Thursday. Statewide, 8,676 initial claims were filed either online or by telephone during this period. Slightly over half of the claims are COVID-19 related. In Cullman County, 117 people filed unemployment claims for the first time in the last week.