Extended unemployment ending for many
October 18, 2012
The Idaho Department of Labor sent notices to 6,100 unemployment insurance claimants this week that their extended benefits will terminate December 30 and urging them to take full advantage of the services the department offers job seekers.

“Winter in Idaho is a tough time to be looking for work,” the notice says, “which is why now is the time to take advantage of the many local office services we have to help you find a job.”

Right now about 150 people a week are exhausting their extended benefits without finding work.

Since 2008 when unemployment insurance was extended beyond the regular state benefits of 10 to 26 weeks, 95,000 Idaho workers have shared $900 million in federally financed extended benefits. Moody’s Economy.com estimates that every dollar paid in extended unemployment benefits generates $1.61 in economic activity because benefit checks are immediately spent locally on rent, utilities, food, clothes for the family and other necessities.

About $1.3 billion has been paid in regular state benefits since the beginning of 2008, a month after the recession began.

At their peak, extended benefits added a maximum of 27 to 73 additional weeks of payments to the 10 to 26 weeks provided under the traditional state benefit program. As Idaho’s jobless rate has declined, the extension has been trimmed back three times earlier this year so that now the maximum additional payments are 14 to 37 weeks, and all extended benefits will stop at the end of the year.

Idaho’s unemployment rate has dropped from a post-recession high 8.9 percent in July 2011 to 7.4 percent in August. At the peak of the recession more than 41,000 workers were receiving jobless benefits each week. That number has fallen below 15,000 with fewer than 8,000 receiving regular state benefits for the first time since November 2007.

Available through the 25 local offices around the state are workshops on creating quality résumés and online applications, training resources to upgrade work skills, job interview assistance including how to deal with questions about gaps in work history, advice on overcoming barriers to employment and tips on using social media to network into a new job.

More information is available at http://labor.idaho.gov/dnn/idl/JobSeekers.aspx.