Pandemic unemployment aid ends Sept. 4 after disbursing $9.6B in Puerto Rico
The Department of Labor and Human Resources announced the end of the benefits of temporary assistance programs such as the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation after disbursing $9.6 billion in Puerto Rico in 18 months.
“Today, some 130,000 unemployment and PUA claimants were notified, via email, about the imminent end of aid to workers affected by the pandemic,” said Labor Secretary Carlos Rivera-Santiago.
“Throughout these 18 months, we have disbursed a total of $9.6 billion in federal and state funds to assist those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, either because they worked with an employer or were self-employed,” he said.
“When this cycle ends, we will focus on continuing to provide alternatives so that those without jobs can rejoin the workforce as soon as possible and contribute their knowledge, skills, and experience from where they can be useful to Puerto Rico,”he said.
In the case of PUA, if the person has not made an initial claim, they will have until Oct. 6 to apply for benefits. However, the last payable week for both the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) and the PUA will be the week of Sept. 4.
Meanwhile, the last payable week of the unemployment benefit programs, created under the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020,” will also be the one corresponding to Sept. 4.
Among the programs that are also ending are: the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides benefits to individuals who have exhausted Unemployment Insurance; the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation; and the Unemployment Compensation for Mixed Income Workers, which provides a supplementary benefit for those who claim Unemployment Insurance benefits or any of its extensions and have also worked as self-employed.
After the week of Sept. 4, only those who meet the requirements of the Unemployment Insurance Program will get unemployment benefits, the agency noted.
