Connecticut Extends Unemployment Benefits: What You Need To Know

CONNECTICUT — The state Department of Labor has announced a seven-week extension of unemployment benefits, triggered by Connecticut's high jobless rate.

Primarily federally funded, the High Extended Benefits program kicks in when the state’s unemployment rate averages 8 percent or higher for three consecutive months. It offers claimants an additional seven weeks of extended benefits for a total of 20 weeks, and it extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for another seven weeks for a total of 46 weeks.

State Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby said, "Expanding benefits will help cover people whose eligibility for Extended Benefits was due to expire at the end of September. It builds some stability into the unemployment safety net for the longterm unemployed. With the expiration of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Program last week, many claimants are seeing a large decline in their benefits—one that Connecticut cannot remedy without federal action. This extension of benefits will help workers for as long as the state remains above the three-month average threshold."

Claimants can expect to be notified by mail of the extension, according to the Department of Labor, and they must continue to file their weekly certification on the green button, but do not need to complete any separate applications.

High Extended Benefits began Aug. 2, and remain in place until the three-month average for state unemployment falls below 8 percent. When the state "triggers off" of the High Extended Benefits program, claimants who have received 13 weeks of Extended Benefits will receive two additional weeks before benefits are ended.

Connecticut’s unemployment rate averaged 9.2 percent over the past three months. The state has estimated the actual unemployment rate is much higher, between 16-17 percent, due to a survey data collection issue that federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is working to correct, according to a news release from the state Department of Labor.