DOL launches PEUC Program

The Georgia Department of Labor has launched the United States Department of Labor’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program.

This program provides extended monetary support for claimants who have exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits.

PEUC is part of the CARES Act of 2020, which extends the eligibility of unemployment benefits up to 13 weeks.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a press release that many people who applied for unemployment benefits in the first weeks of the Covid-19 economic shutdown are now rapidly approaching the end of their initial cycle of benefits.

Under the PEUC program, those claimants who have exhausted their benefits will have the ability to continue to receive financial support for up to an additional 13 weeks.

Claimants who are potentially eligible for PEUC are those who have received all of the unemployment benefits they are eligible for in their regular unemployment claim and whose benefit year ends after July 1, 2019.

Butler said as the Department of Labor receives further instruction from the US Department of Labor on guidelines and regulations, Georgia will continue to update the unemployment programs and keep claimants informed on any changes.

As of Thursday, Butler said the Department of Labor has paid out over $5.4 million dollars in unemployment benefits over the past 12 weeks.

And the number of people in Georgia receiving unemployment is down this week by 14,000 over last week.

Butler said of the weekly total, 85,244 were employer filed claims. Initial claims have declined five of the last six weeks.

Payments over last week totaled $156,742,002 in regular weekly unemployment benefits, down $4.1 million over the prior week.

Since March 21, over $1.4 billion has been paid in regular state UI benefits.