LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska will extend its unemployment benefits for the first time in nearly 40 years in response to the mass layoffs triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, state officials announced Monday.
The Nebraska Department of Labor said it will provide up to an additional 13 weeks for eligible recipients who have exhausted their regular or pandemic unemployment benefits.
The extended benefits were triggered when the state unemployment rate hit 5.2% during the week of June 14. Other states are offering similar extended benefits based on their unemployment rate.
Labor department officials said they’ll notify recipients who are eligible and will issue application instructions. The weekly benefit amount is the same as what people received for regular unemployment.
Typically, recipients can get no more than 26 weeks of unemployment benefits during a 12-month period.
The last time the state’s extended benefits program was triggered was in January 1981.
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