Indiana Ends Federal Pandemic Unemployment Benefits

INDIANAPOLIS — Officials have announced that Indiana will end its participation in all federally funded pandemic unemployment insurance programs effective June 19.
The programs that will end are:
• Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which provides a $300 weekly add-on to recipients of unemployment insurance
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides recipients extended benefits after their traditional 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits have been exhausted
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits to individuals who do not normally qualify for unemployment benefits, such as self-employed, gig workers, and independent contractors
• Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC), which provides a $100 additional weekly benefit for individuals who are eligible for regular unemployment benefits but also earned at least $5,000 in self-employment income
Indiana’s unemployment rate, which jumped to more than 17 percent at the height of the pandemic, has recovered to 3.9 percent. More Hoosiers are in the workforce now than a year ago, and the labor force participation rate is nearing the pre-pandemic level.
On May 11, Gov. Holcomb signed an executive order to reinstate requirements that Hoosiers who are requesting unemployment benefits be actively seeking full-time work beginning on June 1. Work search activities include applying for a job, attending a job fair, participating in WorkOne orientation, or completing an online workshop.
In addition to notifying affected Hoosiers about the reinstatement of work search requirements, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development will notify impacted unemployment insurance claimants about the discontinuation of the federal pandemic benefits.