unemployment insurance

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Unions Lose on Uber, Lyft Ruling: 'Our System Is Broken'

California appeals court says ride-hailing services don't have to treat drivers as employees

(Newser) - App-based ride-hailing and delivery companies like Uber and Lyft can continue to treat their California drivers as independent contractors, a state appeals court ruled Monday, allowing the tech giants to bypass other state laws requiring worker protections and benefits. The ruling mostly upholds a voter-approved law, called Proposition 22, that...

Millions More Jobless in US, but a Small Bright Spot

Layoffs are slowing as businesses start to reopen, rehire workers

(Newser) - Roughly 2.1 million people applied for US unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more businesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees. About 41 million people have now applied for aid since the virus outbreak...

For 2M Jobless, Benefits Set to Dry Up

Congress isn't looking likely to pass an extension

(Newser) - Some 1.3 million Americans could lose their unemployment benefits at the end of the year, with another 850,000 seeing benefits expire in March 2014 if Congress doesn't extend an emergency plan that ends Dec. 31. And though congressional Democrats and the White House are urging an extension,...

New GOP Push: No Jobless Benefits for Rich

They also want to keep millionaires off food stamps

(Newser) - The GOP has found some millionaires it won't stand up for: Millionaires on food stamps. House Republicans have added a measure to their payroll tax holiday bill that would cut off food stamps and unemployment benefits for people with a gross adjusted income of $1 million or more, the...

Jobless Benefits Expire for 6M Next Year

...unless Congress passes another extension

(Newser) - More than 6 million Americans will run out of unemployment benefits starting in January if Congress doesn't move, with 1.8 million of those in January alone, CNNMoney reports. President Obama's American Jobs Act would extend the deadline to file for another year of benefits, but the Jobs...

Michigan: Now Home to Stingiest Jobless Benefits

Governor Rick Snyder lops six weeks off of benefits

(Newser) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law yesterday that will chop six weeks off the amount of time state workers can collect unemployment next year—making Michigan the only state in the country to give its workers less than 26 weeks of benefits, the New York Times reports. Republicans quietly...

One-Third of US Wages? Government Handouts

Social welfare benefits make up 35% of wages and salaries

(Newser) - More than a third of the total wages and salaries in the US is made up of government payouts, CNBC reports. Social welfare benefits including Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance account for 35% of wages and salaries—a record figure that is up from 21% in 2000 and 10%...

Obama Proposes Boosting Unemployment Tax

Companies would pay more to insure workers

(Newser) - President Obama’s proposed budget is expected to call for the first increase in unemployment taxes since 1983. Employers would, as of 2014, have to pay taxes on $15,000-worth of wages, up from the current $7,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would give states a way...

Feds Hit States With Interest on Unemployment Loans

Tax-free provision ended with first stimulus

(Newser) - With most states already swinging in the recessionary winds, more bad news—many will have to start paying interest on the money they borrow to pay unemployment benefits. When jobless levels hit the unthinkable, with some states seeing 14%-15%, many had to go cap in hand to the feds to...

Jobless Claims Hit 9-Month High

Reach 500K mark as employers again cut back

(Newser) - New applications for unemployment insurance reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are likely cutting jobs again as the economy slows. The Labor Department said today that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000,...

Critics Warn Jobless Benefits Becoming Welfare

Extensions up to 99 weeks too much, they say

(Newser) - The unemployment benefit program designed to help workers in the short term is turning into an expensive form of welfare as extensions continue, complain critics in Congress and elsewhere. Workers in the hardest-hit states can now claim benefits for 99 weeks, the longest period since the program began in the...

Sen. Kyl: Jobless Benefits a 'Disincentive' to Find Work

If people are getting aid, they won't look for new job, he says

(Newser) - Federal unemployment benefits that expired over the weekend because of Republican objections in the Senate should maybe stay that way, says Sen. Jon Kyl, the minority whip. They don't “create new jobs,” he argues. “If anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them...

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