500K To Lose NJ Unemployment Benefits Saturday

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey will not extend unemployment benefits past the end of this week, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday during a press conference.

The benefits, which had already previously been extended for an additional 20 weeks, are set to expire on Saturday.

The move is expected to impact more than 500,000 residents.

Murphy said the reality of continuing the extended benefits through state resources would be cost prohibited.

"It would cost at current at least $314 million per week and perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars more," said Murphy. "In other words, we are talking well more than $1 million per month to maintain this benefit at its current level."

REMINDER: Federal extended unemployment benefits, including the $300 weekly benefit, expire on September 4th.
⁰The proper way to extend federal UI benefits is through federal action, not a patchwork of state ones. pic.twitter.com/xNhaSazwD3
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) August 30, 2021

Overall the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has put $33.7 billion directly into the accounts of nearly 1.6 million New Jerseyians since the start of the pandemic —of which $25 billion had been federal dollars, said Murphy.

With that Murphy noted New Jersey consistently holds the top-ranking percentage of unemployed workers receiving benefits.

Many New Jersey businesses have been struggling with finding employees to take on shifts, some offering sign-on bonuses, higher hourly wages, and more. These incentives have not made the impact some had hoped.

Once the unemployment benefits end, Murphy noted that residents entering the workforce are guaranteed a wage of at least $12 an hour, which will increases to $13 per hour in four months.

While this announcement will impact some families facing unemployment issues, Murphy said the state department of labor is prepared to offer further assistance.

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