Minnesota Will Receive $300 Weekly in Unemployment Benefits Under FEMA Grant

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved for Minnesotans to receive $300 in weekly unemployment benefits this fall. FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor issued the grant through the Lost Wages Supplemental Payment Assistance program.

The approval comes one day after Governor Tim Walz announced his decision to apply for additional unemployment payments. Walz explained this was a necessary decision based on the continued COVID-19 mandates. 

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Minnesota Unemployment Drops Nearly 24,000 from Prior Week

New unemployment claims last week in Minnesota dropped by 2,978 from the prior week. For the week ending Aug. 8, 9,337 new unemployment claims were registered, compared to 12,315 new claims the week ending Aug. 1.

More Minnesota workers are dropping off the unemployment rolls overall as well. Ongoing unemployment claims for the week ending Aug. 8 stood at 264,267, which is a drop of 23,948 claims from the prior week’s 288,215 claims.

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Minnesota’s Unemployment Numbers Exhibit Slight Increase

New unemployment claims increased slightly in Minnesota last week, as well as overall total unemployment, running opposite from the falling national trend reported by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The week-over-week numbers reported for Minnesota the week ending July 4 show 19,886 new initial claims, an increase of 513 initial unemployment claims from the previous week’s 19,373 new claims.

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