An uptick in employment figures may bring bad news to unemployed workers who are participating in the Extended Benefits Program.
The state announced today it would not pay state Extended Benefits claims past April 16.
It’s unclear how many people that will affect in Rowan County, according to Debbie Davis, manager of the local office of the N.C. Employment Security Commission and JobLink Center.
More than 500 people in the county received Extended Benefits checks in January, she said, but she did not know how many would be affected by the cutoff.
The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in February as 17,400 jobs were added.
An announcement on the N.C. Employment Security Commission website says:
“Please be advised that due to the recent decline in the North Carolina Unemployment Rate, the state no longer meets the Federal and State requirements of the Extended Benefits Program. In accordance with Federal and State law, the Employment Security Commission cannot pay any Extended Benefit claims for weeks later than April 16, 2011.”