Florida to end $300 unemployment benefit boost

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced an end date to its participation in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program in a tweet Monday, May 24, as a part of the DEO’s "Return to Work" initiative.

In the tweet the DOE stated that the program for Floridians will expire Saturday, June 26, but also added that additional federal benefit programs will continue on through Sept. 6. Those programs include the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC).

The program — which started last year in response to the hardships brought on by COVID-19 — boosted unemployment benefits for out-of-work Floridians from $275 a week to $300. With the end of the program, the benefit amount will drop back to its original amount of $275 a week.

In a press release the DOE stated that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida had gained nearly 800,000 private-sector jobs and that there are more than 450,000 online job postings throughout the state for job seekers.