North Charlotte Today

With Congress and the president failing to reach a deal to extend federal unemployment benefits by the end-of-July deadline, North Carolina's unemployed will see the financial benefit drop by 50%. 

“[North Carolina] benefits were based on the highest quarter of earnings and now they’re based on the last two quarters and if you’ve ever been somebody who’s lost a job you’ll understand you lose a job slowly not quickly," Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst with the National Employment Law Project, told WBTV for its July 9 report. 

The change determining the unemployment benefits amount the state provides was changed by the General Assembly because of the recession that resulted in owing the federal government $2.6 billion, Evermore told WBTV. The maximum amount the state could issue under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Program was $350, with the average person receiving $270 a week, which is lower than the national average.

"So basing it on the most recent two quarters you’re catching people as their job was winding down. Every week when we paid out unemployment claims we had to go borrow money from the federal government and pay interest on that money,” Evermore told WBTV.

The state now has nearly $3 billion available to provide unemployment, but those seeking the financial benefit will do so without the $600 per week the federal government was providing. Democrats and Republicans are still negotiating and President Trump issued an executive order to provide a $400 weekly benefit that includes a $100 contribution from the receiving state. However, some governmental experts said that the president does not have the legal authority to the order, while supporters claim otherwise.