PROVIDENCE – R.I. Department of Labor & Training Director Matthew Weldon has one message to the 45,000 Rhode Islanders slated to see their federal unemployment benefits cut this weekend: Get a job.
“This first decision you make to go back to work doesn’t have to be the last decision,” Weldon said in an interview on Tuesday.
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Eighty percent of the 56,941 individuals collecting unemployment benefits as of Aug. 27 were receiving payments through federal programs slated to end Sept. 4. Assuming they are still unemployed, that means 45,622 people will see weekly payments come to an abrupt end.
DLT has been sounding the alarm for months, warning that the temporary programs aimed at helping those who would not ordinarily qualify for unemployment – gig and contract workers or those whose traditional benefits have expired – were drawing to a close. But in some cases, Weldon felt the message fell on deaf ears.
“Despite what we’ve told people, I don’t know that the claimants in Rhode Island necessarily took that advice and really resonated with that,” he said.
Adding to the problem, according to Weldon, was misinformation spread by informal, online groups in which some claimed that the federal programs would be extended, or that beneficiaries could simply return to regular unemployment programs. Most people will be unable to return to the traditional unemployment program, which requires recipients to have worked and earned a certain income over the last 15 months. Even those who do qualify will not receive substantial payments, Weldon said.
At this point, he was hoping the wakeup call of empty bank accounts would provide the motivation needed to get people applying for, and taking jobs. DLT is also offering a number of workforce training programs in partnership with the state through its Back To Work RI initiative. But for the short term, Weldon urged those not working to take whatever job they can find.
About 11,200 claimants, or 9.2%, are already working some hours, a number Weldon saw as evidence of success in state policy changes. The state in late May passed a new law increasing the amount of earnings recipients can make through part-time work while still qualifying for some benefits. Work-search requirements for unemployment claimants were also reinstated at the time after being suspended for much of the pandemic.
At the time, lawmakers and state officials touted the policy changes as a way to combat labor shortages and reduce the drain on the state’s unemployment trust fund.
While the increase in part-time workers also collecting unemployment benefits fell short of the 10-percentage-point jump Weldon originally hoped for – instead increasing by 2.6 percentage points since May – he said the policy was still a “huge success” for the 3,600 people who benefited.
“That not only creates savings for the unemployment insurance fund but also means the world to them and their families,” he said.
The state unemployment insurance trust fund balance stands at $196.9 million. Unlike a number of other states, Rhode Island’s fund remained solvent throughout the pandemic, thanks in part to the federal support for unemployment which covered 80% of the roughly $3.8 billion in benefits and workshare program payments paid out since March 2020.
The 56,941 individuals in Rhode Island collecting unemployment benefits as of Aug. 27 was nearly level with one week prior, falling by just 47 individuals.
Of those filings, only 10,084 were traditional unemployment insurance filings.
The rest were receiving payments through the soon-to-end Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program or the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs, which benefit gig or contract workers and those whose traditional unemployment benefits have expired.
The 28,767 individuals receiving PUA benefits fell by just 219, while 16,855 PEUC recipients represents a 185-person drop over the week prior.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
Here’s a concept – GET A JOB
There are over 300 openings on Providence’s Atwells Avenue alone!