Californians to receive extra $600 in unemployment benefits starting Sunday

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that starting Sunday Californians who are receiving unemployment benefits will get an additional $600. 

State officials said residents have filed more unemployment claims in the last four weeks than all of 2019, largely in part due to the COVID-19 crisis. 

“Many Californians are feeling the effects of this pandemic, and this added benefit is very important to our workers so they have needed resources during this difficult time,” said Governor Newsom.

As part of the new Pandemic Additional Compensation (PAC) initiated by the CARES Act, displaced workers will receive an extra $600 on top of the weekly unemployment benefits they already receive. 

The additional funds will help Californians and small businesses facing economic hardships as a result of COVID-19. 

The governor's office said the state has processed about 2.3 million unemployment insurance claims, which is more than the total number of claims filed in 2019. Just for the week ending on Saturday, April 4, 2020, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) processed 925,450 claims, which is a 2,418% increase over the same week last year.

Additionally, the EDD paid a total of nearly $684.3 million in unemployment benefits to Californians in need in the last four weeks.