As many as 800,000 New Yorkers will have to prepare and adjust their finances following the report that came out stating that many of them will lose their unemployment benefits after Labor Day.
According to a study released on Thursday by The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, an estimated number of 750,000 to 800,000 New York City residents will stop receiving unemployment benefits after September 6.
The study states that the benefit cutoff will affect “those who have borne the brunt of the Covid job displacement will be disproportionately impacted.
This will primarily be lower-paid workers of color, including large shares previously working in leisure and hospitality, local services, retail, and an arts and entertainment industries.”
Furthermore, the study also explained that “the cutoff of Federal unemployment payments will not only cause substantial economic hardship among those not able to return to work; it will also almost certainly further slow and complicate New York City’s economic recovery.”
New Yorkers received a total average of $3.15 billion in unemployment benefits monthly from April of 2020 up until now. After September 6, the amount is expected to fall to $156 million each month.
Information in the study reveals that the impending expiration of Federal benefits will drain over 90 percent of these benefits (an estimated 93 percent or $463 million to be more precise) from the local economy.
Much of these have been going directly into the local economy as spending at neighborhood stores and businesses and as rent and mortgage payments.
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Here’s how the numbers break down.
- 750,000-800,000 city residents will lose $200-$300 in average weekly PUA or PEUC benefits PLUS the $300 weekly supplement (FPUC). Result: $375 million – $480 million in reduced benefits.
- 120,000 residents will continue to receive regular state unemployment benefits averaging $290/week but will lose the $300 weekly supplement: That’s $36 million in reduced benefits.
- The TOTAL reduction in unemployment benefits coming into New York City weekly: $411 million $516 million. The midpoint of this range = $463 million.
On the brighter side, tenants who have applied to the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program will get some protection.
Renters who registered under the assistance program will have their eviction postponed until the result of their application – if their application is accepted, they will not be evicted for a year.
New Yorkers are preparing to face the implications of the eviction and the expiration of the unemployment benefits. This will be a major setback for New York City residents who are still trying to recover from COVID-19.