During the COVID-19 pandemic, job losses skyrocketed, and the unemployment rate reached double digits. Congress responded by creating several temporary unemployment benefit programs. Many employees were eligible for unemployment because they lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and the steps state and local governments took to contain it. Millions more received temporary federal benefits under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program because they were still unemployed when their state benefits ran out. And, many gig workers, contractors, and self-employed people were temporarily eligible for unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
However, federal pandemic assistance programs expired on September 6, 2021, when millions of people saw their benefits cut, and millions more lost their benefits altogether. To learn more about unemployment programs in your state, select it from the list below.
