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Michigan to restore work-search rule, keep $300 supplement

Unemployment
Posted at 11:29 AM, May 18, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-18 11:29:55-04

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will reinstate a requirement that people receiving unemployment benefits show they are actively searching for work, effective May 30, but has no plan to end a $300 weekly federal supplement going to 816,000 jobless residents.

All seven of Michigan's Republican U.S. House members are urging Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to halt the extra payment, which is on top of maximum state benefits of $362 per week.

But Lynda Robinson, spokeswoman for the state Unemployment Insurance Agency, said it doesn't plan to end any federal unemployment programs, including for self-employed or gig workers who began qualifying in the pandemic.