The Texas Workforce Commission has announced it will stop paying extended benefits to jobless Texans on Sept. 11, a move triggered by the state’s unemployment rate dropping below 6.5 percent.
Extended unemployment benefits are only available during periods of high state or national joblessness, and by law is currently defined as an average rate of seasonally adjusted total unemployment that equals 6.5 percent or more.
Texas triggered extended unemployment benefits in May 2020. On Aug. 20, the Department of Labor notified TWC that the state’s seasonally adjusted total unemployment rate fell below the 6.5 percent needed to remain on extended benefits.
Texas’ current jobless rate as of July is 6.2 percent.
Unemployment claimants “should continue to file payment requests and complete all EB work search requirements, to receive benefits through Sept. 11,” TWC officials said.
Here in the Valley, unemployment rates remain among the state’s highest, at 10.0 percent in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area and at 8.8 percent in the Brownsville-Harlingen MSA.
