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Most states have been underpaying Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits

Dec 1, 2020
Instead of calculating PUA benefits based on people’s income, many states have just been paying the minimum benefit.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Unemployment recipients aren't getting support they're eligible for, report finds

Dec 1, 2020
In 29 of 41 states that reported data, people in receipt of pandemic assistance benefits were being paid below the federal poverty line.
Gig workers have received unemployment benefits many would not have been entitled to before pandemic assistance began.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Report warns of a worsening affordability crisis for renters

Nov 19, 2020
The lowest-income households were more likely to lose wages and fall behind on rent.
Banners against tenant evictions hang from a rent-controlled building in Washington, D.C., in August.
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

Unemployment claims increase as pandemic worsens

Nov 19, 2020
It's the first increase in five weeks and a sign that the resurgent viral outbreak is likely slowing the economy.
At least 15 states have tightened curbs on businesses to try to slow infections.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Unemployment insurance is broken. How can it be fixed?

Nov 18, 2020
When tens of millions of workers were laid off and applied for benefits in the spring, the system crashed. Here are some ideas for making it work better.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

New report says 12 million jobless workers are about to lose unemployment benefits

Nov 18, 2020
In just 38 days, 12 million jobless workers will lose their benefits. Talks on another relief bill have stalled in Congress.
The restaurant and hospitality industries have experienced plenty of turnover.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

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Unemployment claims, still high, fall to lowest level since March

Nov 12, 2020
The figures coincide with a sharp resurgence in confirmed viral infections to an all-time high above 120,000 a day.
The still-elevated number of unemployment benefits applications shows that eight months after the pandemic flattened the economy, many employers are still slashing jobs.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Nearly two job seekers for every job: What it's like to look for work now

Nov 10, 2020
The unemployment rate is down, and more people are returning to the labor force. But finding a job isn't easy.
A woman closes up a liquor store in Seattle in July. Job searchers are having a hard time finding work during the pandemic.
David Ryder/Getty Images

Jobs have bounced back in some parts of the economy. Others face a long slog.

Nov 6, 2020
More Americans are returning to the labor market. But more are also joing the ranks of the long-term unemployed.
A shuttered business district in Brooklyn in May. Jobs in some face-to-face services, like bars and restaurants, are still down 15% to 30%.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images