Unemployment Benefits to End for Some Georgians

The Georgia Department of Labor announced the following Wednesday in a press release:

Some recipients of federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) in Georgia will lose extended unemployment benefits after Saturday, Jan. 12. EUC was established in 2008 to aid the long-term unemployed.

Georgia will “trigger off” EUC’s Tier 4 unemployment insurance program during the week ending Jan. 12 because the state’s jobless rate has declined in the last three months, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Georgia’s jobless rate was 9.0 percent in September, but declined to 8.7 percent in October and 8.5 percent in November.

Federal law mandates that a state in which EUC is provided must have a three-month seasonally adjusted unemployment average of 9.0 percent to remain “on” in Tier 4. The last three months dropped Georgia’s three-month average below 9.0 percent.

As a result of “triggering off,” the week ending Jan. 12 will be the last week EUC claimants can exhaust Tier 3 benefits and establish Tier 4 eligibility. However, under provisions of the phase-out, claimants who establish Tier 4 by Jan. 13 will be eligible to receive the remainder of Tier 4 either until benefits exhaust or the EUC program ends on Dec. 28, 2013.

For additional information, visit the GDOL website at www.dol.state.ga.us.