More than half a million Pennsylvania residents are relying on additional federal unemployment benefits created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But those benefits are slated to expire this month unless Congress acts. Now, the commonwealth’s Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak is asking the U.S. Senate to extend the benefits. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Research quantifies what most of us probably have assumed: unemployment does nothing positive for mental health. | From: The Inquirer (Read more.)
With the state’s phone hotline notoriously hard to get through, the Department of Labor and Industry is bulking up a new chatbot feature. Right now, the website can handle just 500 simultaneous chats, but that’ll ramp up to 50k by the end of the year. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
After widespread job shedding in March and April, just over half of those who lost work in the commonwealth had been rehired by August, new numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry show. But job gains are spread unevenly across different fields. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Some parts of life look almost normal right now. Hair is being cut. Restaurant sidewalks are bustling. The stock market is soaring. But in the five months since the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, safety concerns and business shut down orders have triggered a steep recession. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday postponed a decision on allowing utilities to resume shutoffs of nonpaying customers until Sept. 17, marking the third time the stalemated panel has been unable to agree about lifting a coronavirus moratorium on service terminations. | From: The Philadelphia Inquirer (Read more.)
More than 600k Pennsylvanians are currently collecting unemployment. That’s nearly one out of every 20 residents. Some could be eligible for a weekly $300 boost now that FEMA has released an additional $44 billion in funding, with $1.5 billion of it going to Pa. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
The moratorium could end Sept. 1, unless the Republican-controlled legislature steps in to extend it. Gov. Wolf says he cannot do it alone. Thousands of renters struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic are potentially vulnerable to evictions. | From: NBC10/Telemundo62 (Read more.)
The coronavirus created mayhem for all kinds of people, but it hit the restaurant industry especially hard. Here are some of their stories. | From: Billy Penn (Read more.)
According to Kerri Hartnett, Prevention Point Philadelphia’s drop-in coordinator, starting in March, she began hearing of people being scammed out of unemployment money and stimulus checks in Kensington. For many experiencing homelessness, it’s difficult to secure these needed benefits. | From: Kensington Voice (Read more.)
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