News

Gov. Bev Perdue today signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to provide $25 more per week in federal unemployment insurance benefits to those who qualify under the Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act.

“We need to do all we can to help people looking for work who have been hard hit by the nation’s economic crisis,” said Gov. Perdue. “I have spoken with Employment Security Commission Chairman Moses Carey, and his staff is already hard at work implementing this initiative as quickly as possible. Within the next few weeks, those unemployed who qualify will begin receiving this money.”

February 19th was the earliest the agreement could be executed. The action, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was passed by Congress and signed by the president, creates a new federally-funded initiative which increases unemployment benefits by $25 a week through calendar year 2009, with a “phase-out” period for previously-qualified individuals. Gov. Perdue and officials from other states had to sign an agreement to act as the agent for disbursing this money.