JOBLESS BENEFITS DEPLETING FOR MANY WEST VIRGINIANS

(08/04/2009)

Hundreds of West Virginians have exhausted their unemployment compensation benefits. They will have to wait until next year to get more help unless WV changes the method it uses to obtain extended benefits. West Virginia could miss out on an opportunity to get those extended benefits paid fully by the federal government, reports the Charleston Daily Mail. As of July 25, About 2,357 claimants had received their final payment on July 25, according to Michael Moore, director of unemployment for WorkForce West Virginia. They have exhausted all 59 weeks of jobless benefits available. That includes 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, 20 weeks of Tier 1 emergency unemployment compensation and 13 weeks of Tier 2 emergency benefits. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes funding of extended unemployment compensation for jobless workers whose benefits have expired. The Daily Mail reports eligibility for those extended benefits depends on the type of unemployment rate states use to trigger it, and under West Virginia's current trigger law, that will not happen until late February. Miller said, "We're going to miss out." It would apparently require an act of the legislature.

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