Extended Benefits Program Ended in Mississippi
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For Immediate Release
Date: January 4, 2021
Jackson, MS ---
Today, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) announced that the Unemployment “Extended Benefits” (EB) program ended the week of December 19, 2020.
In May of 2020, MDES announced the beginning of the EB program in Mississippi. The EB program was established to pay benefits during periods of high unemployment to workers who exhausted their basic entitlement to regular state and federal unemployment benefits. These are benefits made temporarily available when a state reaches a certain sustained level of unemployment which “triggers” the state onto the EB program. EB is not a CARES Act program, but the increased claims filed as a result of the pandemic caused Mississippi to trigger onto EB as of May 17, 2020.
Mississippi’s unemployment level no longer meets the requirements to continue the EB period. As a result, Mississippi “triggered off” EB with the week ending December 19, 2020. The week ending December 19, 2020 was the last week of unemployment for which EB benefits were paid.
Affected claimants will receive notification regarding the end of this program.
For more information please visit, mdes.ms.gov.
