LANSING, Mich. — More people left jobless during this COVID-19 period are now eligible to file for unemployment benefits.
The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency is now accepting applications from people who are not normally eligible. But these are not normal times.
Included among the newly eligible are the self-employed, independent contractors, low-income workers, and gig workers.
The unemployment system has already seen a 5,000 percent increase over a three-week period in the number of new filings for benefits, totaling 800,000 workers.
Michigan is also the first state to disperse extra unemployment benefits from the federal government. People who are already receiving benefits will soon see an extra $600 a week from the federal government.
