Pennsylvania to begin adding $300 weekly unemployment benefit for claimants

PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvanians filing for unemployment benefits will begin seeing an automatically applied $300 weekly increase starting this week according to Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier. The additional increase, which will be applied to the claims benefits for those receiving them between the dates of Jan. 2 and March 13, comes as part of the federal stimulus packaged that Congress passed at the end of 2020.

“This boost in unemployment benefits is vital to hardworking Pennsylvania families who have lost their income as a result of the global pandemic,” Berrier said in a release. “I am pleased that L&I was able to work with the federal Department of Labor (DOL) to get the information needed to quickly restart this program and get payments into the pockets of Pennsylvanians in need.”

Claimants do not need to apply for the additional benefit as it will be applied automatically for all of those who are filing between the program’s dates. Pennsylvania said it estimates 127,000 claimants in the Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits programs will receive the $300 increase by Jan. 12.

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