For Immediate Release
June 26, 2020
Contact: Stacy Johnston
Acting Public Information Officer
505.250.3926
NMDWS Announces Additional Extended Benefits for Unemployment
(Albuquerque, NM) – The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) announced today that New Mexico will begin offering the Federal-State Extended Benefits (FDEB1) program for those who have exhausted their previous unemployment benefits.
New Mexico’s most recent insured unemployment rate (IUR) exceeded the 5.0 percent threshold and exceeds the 120 percent of the corresponding average rate in the prior two years that triggered the state onto a 13-week Extended Benefit period.
Under federal law, the FDEB1 program offers up to an additional 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted both their regular unemployment benefits and 13 weeks of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) assistance.
Upon exhaustion of regular UI entitlement and PEUC entitlement, NMDWS will issue written notification to all individuals who are eligible to apply for the new FDEB1 program. The weekly benefit amount (WBA) under the FDEB1 program is the same as the individual received for regular unemployment compensation.
A reminder to all claimants that the additional $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will be ending July 25, 2020.
The first group of claimants exhausting their PEUC benefits will start this Sunday after they certify. The written notification they receive from NMDWS specifies they can apply over the phone by calling the UI Operations Center at 1-877-664-6984, or online by clicking on the “Apply for Extended Benefits” link located on their claimant homepage.
New Mexico’s most recent Extended Benefit program was triggered in 2009 and ended December 31, 2011.
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