Nevada jobless level nears 20%; extended benefits triggered

Unemployment benefits in Nevada are being extended for a second 13 weeks, officials said Friday, as the wave of workers idled by casino and business closures in response to the coronavirus outbreak spiked the state jobless figure to 19.9%.

“Nevada has now met the thresholds required to trigger extended benefits,” the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said in a statement issued a day after the U.S. Department of Labor reported more than 45,000 people in the state filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week.

Extended benefits provide 13 additional weeks of payments to people who exhaust regular state unemployment and pandemic emergency benefits, the statement said.

More than 412,000 Nevadans have filed initial unemployment claims since Jan. 1, and the trigger point for extending benefits was reached when ongoing claims, now 5.8%, topped a 5% mark set by state law.

Read more: https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/nevada-jobless-level-nears-20-extended-benefits-triggered/