Unemployment benefits cut to 46 weeks

The maximum duration of extended unemployment benefits in Minnesota will drop from 60 to 46 weeks later this month.

The state's declining unemployment rate has triggered a shortening of some benefits, said Monte Hanson, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. In April, Minnesota's unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.

"Because the unemployment rate has now has dropped below 6 percent on average over three months, 14 weeks of unemployment benefits are going to disappear," Hanson said.

Toughly 10,000 Minnesotans will not be eligible for those additional weeks of benefits Hanson said. But jobless workers who qualify before June 23 can still draw the full 60 weeks of unemployment insurance, he said.

DEED sent letters a couple of weeks ago to workers who could be affected by the change.

At the height of the recession, jobless Minnesotans could draw as many as 86 weeks of benefits.

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