- Millions of Americans are filing for unemployment insurance as the novel coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to lay off or furlough their employees.
- The CARES Act guarantees unemployed Americans an additional $600 on top of whatever they would normally receive from the state’s unemployment.
- Zippia has created a calculator you can use to determine how much you can make on unemployment.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
One of the most consequential side effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic has been the sudden, staggering rise in unemployment in the US. In March alone, the unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 4.4%, as 701,000 Americans lost their jobs. Those numbers will only get worse when the full impact of the pandemic can be measured, but in the meantime, millions of Americans are applying for unemployment, many for the first time.
In addition to the $1,200 checks that most adults will be receiving in the coming months, the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act boosts unemployment benefits by giving Americans an extra $600 a week for the next four months, ending on July 31st or upon employment. The unemployment period increased by 13 weeks in all 50 states as well, so you are less likely to be kicked off before finding a job.
At this point, you might be wondering how much you could expect to make on unemployment. Thanks to the work of career search site Zippia, calculating that number is as easy as using a calculator.
As Zippia explains, every state has its own complicated, arcane laws for determining unemployment benefits, as well as special clauses for dependents. Zippia put together an unemployment benefits calculator for all 50 states that takes these laws into account and added in the $600 a week included in the stimulus package to give Americans the ability to determine how much they will be making if they do decide to apply for unemployment insurance. The results may vary slightly from reality, but you can at least get an idea of what to expect.
In order to find out what you might be making if you decide to file for unemployment, all you need to do is head to the site, type in your annual salary, the state you live in, and the number of dependents you have. Tap the big blue button and the calculator will tell you what you can expect to make per week for the next four months (or until you get a new job). Zippia also included this handy map that shows the maximum coronavirus unemployment benefits in each state if they were stretched out over an entire year (congratulations to Massachusetts residents):
“While the situation might create a temporary imbalance, it is important to remember the unemployment boost will end July 31st,” Zippia notes on its website. “Unemployment checks will be back down to the state level, an amount many struggle to exist on. We do not know how long many of these unemployed workers will struggle to find jobs or what shape the economy will be in August.”
