I shut down my self-employment business around this time last year due to various health issues that elevate my personal risks to Covid. When they opened up Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for gig workers I applied and was able to claim from the time when I stopped working. This week I received a notice that my unemployment has expired as it has run for a year. To continue receiving unemployment benefits I need to reapply to start a new claim. Given that I am still waiting for my vaccination shots to be scheduled I intend to reapply.
I suspect I am far from the only person in this circumstance. I’m also not certain whether there is a category in the labor statistics for reinstated claims as opposed to new claims. If not then we may see a large number of “new” claims coming in that are simply extending existing unemployment assistance for people. This seems like the kind of false impression that the Republicans will jump on to badmouth the recovery under Biden and the stimulus.