Benefits to change for thousands of unemployed North Dakotans, Minnesotans

President Donald Trump signed coronavirus relief executive orders on Saturday

MINNESOTA & NORTH DAKOTA –  Millions of Americans are still out of a job amid the pandemic.

As lawmakers continue to debate what kinds of unemployment benefits to approve, President Trump signed an executive order, which will impact hundreds of thousands of North Dakotans and Minnesotans.

Those at Job Service North Dakota say the people they’re helping want their jobs back.

“I think that what people really want is to get back to work,” said Sarah Arntson with Job Service North Dakota.

But until that can safely happen, they still have concerns in mind.

Arntson explained, “Are they going to be safe when they venture out of their house? Are they going to be able to provide for their families? And, what does the future look like?”

Those are questions likely on the minds of the more than hundreds of thousands of North Dakotans and Minnesotans currently unemployed.

“Until people can safely get back to work, I think people do depend on and appreciate the extra money that’s coming in right now,” she added.

The extra 600 dollars in weekly unemployment benefits millions of Americans were receiving ended in July.

This past weekend, President Trump signed an executive order replacing that amount with 400 dollars moving forward.

25 percent, or 100 dollars, of that will be paid through the state, not federal government.

“Clearly, the more money people have on hand to spend, it’s going to help the economy, and that’s always a good thing,” said Arntson.

More details like when the payments will once again start flowing are still unclear.

“People shouldn’t expect to see this benefit return immediately. It’s going to take some time to implement, and we’re not even sure at this point exactly what that’s going to look like on our end, so we just ask for people to be patient as we work this out.”

For the thousands out of a job across the state, North Dakota Job Service offers a multitude of resources; things like polishing up your resume and working on job interview skills.

“We’ve been focusing a lot on unemployment insurance because obviously that is the most dire need at the moment, but we are still available to help people get back out into the workplace, and there are still jobs available for North Dakotans,” said Arntson.

Minnesota reached its highest ever unemployment rate in May at nearly 10 percent.