In the US 900,000 apply for unemployment benefits 0:59
(CNN) ––
An estimated 11.4 million people would lose their unemployment benefits between mid-March and mid-April if Congress does not approve their next coronavirus pandemic aid package in the coming weeks.
This was detailed by a new study.
Americans who lost their jobs will begin to run out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation subsidies next month.
Assistance to about 4 million people will expire in mid-March.
Meanwhile, payments for another 7.3 million people will expire over the next four weeks.
That is the panorama posed by a report by The Century Foundation, published this Wednesday.
Nearly 4 million US jobs have disappeared forever
Democratic lawmakers began filing their next relief legislation this week, advancing President Joe Biden's $ 1.9 trillion proposal.
The bill calls for extending unemployment benefit programs.
Also, provide a federal increase of $ 400 per week to these payments, until August 29.
The president's plan calls for continuing the subsidies until the end of September.
The Ways and Means Commission of the House of Representatives evaluates the legislation this Wednesday.
Unemployment benefit programs created by the CARES Act
The two temporary federal programs were created in the $ 2 trillion aid package that Congress passed in March 2020. Those measures were extended for 11 weeks in the December 900 billion relief deal.
The first provides benefits to freelancers, freelance or independent contractors and certain people affected by the pandemic.
For its part, the second extends the duration of payments for those in the traditional state unemployment system.
The December package also provided an additional $ 300 per week in federal payments through mid-March.
However, as Congress and then-President Donald Trump waited until the end of the year to take action, more than $ 17 billion in unemployment benefits for January were delayed.
This is because the states reprogrammed the provisions in their computer systems.
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"There is no reason for Congress to wait until the last minute to extend this critical aid and to risk an aid interruption," wrote Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the foundation.
Stettner noted that lawmakers should act two to four weeks before the mid-mark deadline.
This is to give state unemployment agencies time to process the new rules.
The threat that unemployment benefits may expire occurs as the labor market recovery remains volatile in the country.
Only 49,000 jobs were added in January.
Additionally, the United States has lost nearly 10 million jobs since before the pandemic.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, the first decline in two months.
The unemployment figures
Just over 4 million Americans have been out of work for at least six months.
Which represents approximately 40% of the total unemployed.
The number of people employed is not projected to return to its pre-pandemic level until 2024, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released last week.
This is the only city in America where unemployment has dropped
Still, the unemployment rate in many states has declined after skyrocketing last spring.
This means that fewer states are offering extended unemployment benefits.
An aid that is activated when unemployment is high.
And it's not good news for the long-term unemployed, who often have a harder time returning to the workforce.
Only about 734,000 workers, in just 12 states, could receive extended state subsidies in April if the two federal programs to deal with the pandemic expire, according to The Century Foundation.
Economic difficulties continue
Nearly a year after the pandemic, many Americans still struggle to cope.
More than 24 million adults, or 11.2%, live in a household where there was sometimes or often not enough to eat in the past seven days.
This was recorded in the most recent Census Household Pulse survey, released this Wednesday.
Also, more than 82 million adults, or more than a third, live in households where it has been somewhat or very difficult to pay regular household expenses during the pandemic, the survey indicated.
The survey was conducted between January 20 and February 1.
And nearly 62 million adults, or about a quarter, expect a loss of income from work over the next four weeks.
Congress Covid-19 Unemployment in the US Unemployment Allowance