The amount Mississippians can earn by working while receiving unemployment benefits will increase from $40 per week to $200 per week through June 27, according to an executive order Gov. Tate Reeves issued Monday.
The order also extends through Dec. 26 the waiver of the one-week waiting period for receiving unemployment.
The order also gives protections for employers, who pay unemployment insurance for their workers.
The U.S. unemployment rate shot up to 14.7% in April after being just 4.4% in March. That was caused by government-ordered shutdowns of businesses as an effort to contain spread of the coronavirus.
Mississippi’s numbers for April have not been released yet, but the March numbers showed a huge increase in unemployment benefit applications. There were 60,907 initial unemployment insurance claims in March in Mississippi compared to 3,460 in February.
The average state benefit paid in March was $203.60 per person, but unemployed workers are also receiving an additional $600 per month from the federal government because of the COVID-19 crisis. Some economists and Republicans in Congress have expressed concerns that those large payments, which equate to $15 per hour, give incentive to not return to work even if workers can.
“There is no real government replacement for a job. I know most Mississippians are ready and eager to work,” Reeves said in a statement. “Please do not let the window pass you by. If you are lucky enough to get an offer to earn a living, please do not reject it. I do not want you to wake up in August with no job to return to.” n
