Unemployment payments for more than 70,000 Missourians will soon dry up without action from Congress before the end of the year.
The latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that in the last week of November, more than 35,000 people were using a federal program giving them 13 extra weeks of payments beyond what the state offers. Another 43,000 were receiving payments through a separate program paying self-employed workers and independent contractors who don’t usually qualify for benefits. But those programs, part of the CARES Act in March, are both set to expire on December 26, affecting some 12 million nationwide.
