12 million Americans may lose jobless benefits the day after Christmas, analysis says

Millions of Americans may lose jobless benefits the day after Christmas, according to a new analysis.

An estimated 12 million workers will stop receiving unemployment benefits when funding for two key CARES Act programs expires on Dec. 26, according to The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. The CARES Act is the economic stimulus legislation in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This cutoff threatens to pull the rug out from under an economy that has already seen millions of workers lose their state unemployment benefits this fall,” The Century Foundation says.

The two expiring benefits are Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).

Under PEUC, states can extend unemployment insurance for an additional 13 weeks for workers who have exhausted regular compensation. About 4.6 million longer-term unemployed workers will lose the benefit on the December expiration, per the foundation’s analysis. Additionally, another 3.5 million already will have lost this benefit before it expires.

About 7.3 million workers will lose PUA benefits on Dec. 26, according to the foundation. This benefit is for workers not normally eligible for unemployment benefits — primarily freelancers and independent contractors. An additional 945,000 workers will run out of this benefit before December, the analysis says.

This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 6:16 PM with the headline "12 million Americans may lose jobless benefits the day after Christmas, analysis says."