56,000 jobless Nevadans have benefits restored

CARSON CITY -- All 56,000 Nevadans who were cut off from federal unemployment benefits in June when Congress failed to reauthorize its programs have had their benefits restored.

Mae Worthey, a spokeswoman for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said Monday that her agency last week caught up with paying people who had been cut from the federal unemployment benefit program. Congress on July 22 reauthorized the extended unemployment benefits programs. That means that some unemployed people were paid for seven weeks of federal benefits they lost.

The average weekly benefit in Nevada is $300.

Depending on how long they have worked, unemployed people can receive as much as 26 weeks in state unemployment benefits. For some, federal programs extend what they can receive to as long as 99 weeks.

But Worthey said 22,000 residents since June 2009 have exhausted both state and federal benefits, meaning they no longer receive any money.

Nevada's 14.3 percent unemployment rate is the highest in the nation. Worthey noted that just three years ago unemployment in Nevada was in the 4 percent range.