Minnesota Unemployment Benefits Extended

State helps still-unemployed

President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan extended unemployment benefits by five weeks through Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation. Now, Minnesota is taking that extension even further through the state program, allowing up to 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits after the EUC runs out.

Extra benefits kick in

The change to Minnesota unemployment benefits kicks in this week. So, any Minnesota resident who collected the last of their EUC last week can file again this week. The money will come directly from the state instead of from the feds. They can still collect their unemployment through www.uimn.org.

Many weeks without work

With the 13-week extension to Minnesota unemployment, residents can get up to 72 weeks of unemployment, or almost a year and five months. That’s only for people who were at their jobs long enough to qualify for the maximum amount of unemployment insurance.

A long dry spell

That’s a long time to be on unemployment, but it makes sense. With layoffs continuing to rise and not many companies hiring, there just aren’t enough jobs out there. And with lawmakers trying to legislate payday loan stores out of business there are even fewer jobs out there.

February statistics show Minnesota had an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent, about the same as the national unemployment rate.

Then what?

The real challenge for people will come after the new, extended Minnesota unemployment benefits are exhausted. Anyone who has looked for a job for 72 weeks and not found one is probably in a pretty tough predicament. Worse yet, it’s very tough for unemployed workers to secure payday loans, personal loans or other types of credit.

Tough competition

The Star Tribune reports that as summer gets closer, more unemployed adults in Minneapolis and St. Paul are on the market for jobs that usually go to teenagers. High school students trying to save money for college are competing for jobs in hospitality with adults who are trying to feed their families.

“Making matters worse, employers say workers from previous seasons are coming back to lock in their jobs because there aren’t any other options,” says the Star Tribune.