A $400 boost to weekly unemployment benefits being pushed by President-elect Joe Biden would replace about 86% of lost wages for the average worker, according to a CNBC analysis of Labor Department data.
Biden called for jobless benefits to be raised in a Thursday night speech outlining a $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, the American Rescue Plan. The $400 enhancement would be available through September 2021.
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He also wants to extend benefits through September for the long-term unemployed, in addition to sending more stimulus checks, rental assistance and other relief.
$400 weekly boost
Workers got $323 a week in state benefits, on average, in the third quarter last year, according to most recent U.S. Labor Department data. That aid replaced about 38% of their average pre-layoff wage, which was $843 a week.
A $400 increase in benefits would bump that replacement rate to 86%.
The supplement would go further in some states, especially those that tend to pay more meager benefits.
In Louisiana, for example, the average worker got $183 a week in benefits in November, according to the U.S. Labor Department. For them, a $400 boost would represent a 219% increase in weekly benefits.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, gave $491 a week to the average person, the largest payout among states in November. A $400 enhancement for that worker would yield an 81% increase in benefits.
More than 18 million Americans were collecting unemployment benefits at the end of 2020, according to the Labor Department.
States are currently in the process of issuing a $300-a-week enhancement to benefits provided by the recently passed $900 billion Covid relief law. It’s slated to end in mid-March.
