Extended Unemployment Benefits Return To Some States

According to the most recent "Trigger Notice" from the U.S. Department of Labor, Georgia, Mississippi and Michigan regained eligibility for the fourth tier of EUC on Oct. 7, because the three-month average unemployment rates in those states reached 9 percent or above. The states had only lost eligibility for the fourth tier in June and July, when their three-month average unemployment rates dipped below 9 percent.

Also on Oct. 7, unemployment rates above 7 percent caused Maryland and Texas to regain eligibility for nine weeks of benefits from the third tier of EUC. (Tier 3 used to come with 13 weeks of compensation, but Congress trimmed it in February.) In September, the third tier triggered on in Wisconsin and Wyoming, and the second tier triggered on in Utah because the state's three-month jobless rate hit 6 percent.

The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program is set to expire altogether in December, unless Congress reauthorizes it. According to the National Employment Law Project, a worker research and advocacy group, 2 million people will abruptly stop receiving checks at the end of the year under current law.