DEED Starts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Payments

Unemployment benefits for people who don’t ordinarily qualify for unemployment are now available. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has started providing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) to people who aren’t eligible for regular unemployment such as independent contractors and the self-employed.

Such payments were authorized by Congress in last month’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which also authorized an extra $600 per week payment to recipients of any benefits including PUA.

People who have already applied for regular unemployment, but weren’t eligible for it, don’t need to do anything. DEED will automatically make an account and start payments to those eligible for PUA. Anyone who hasn’t already applied should go here and follow the instructions.

DEED expects to contact most PUA-eligible people by the end of the month. For full details of the program including frequently-asked-questions, click here.

For more stories on COVID-19’s impact on our community, click here.

Brandon Bankston, Reporting

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