Jobless Californians to lose federal benefits

These are the 20 extra weeks that had been provided under a federal program and which raised the maximum amount of unemployment benefits to 99 weeks. But the state no longer qualifies for the program (something to do with the March unemployment rate), meaning that about 90,000 Californians will see their benefits end next month, even if they still have weeks remaining in their claim. From the SF Chronicle:

People begin receiving Fed-Ed after they have exhausted their regular state benefits - which last up to 26 weeks - and four successive tiers of federal benefits that provide up to 53 weeks combined. Fed-Ed kicks in after tier four ends and provides up to 20 final weeks, for a grand total of 99 weeks. (People who get less than 26 weeks of regular state benefits have their federal benefits reduced on a pro-rata basis, so not everyone got up to 99 weeks.) To qualify for Fed-Ed, your state's average unemployment rate for the past three months must be at least 10 percent higher than the average rate in the same period in at least one of the three previous years.

People who exhaust their state benefits might be able to collect the four tiers of federal benefits through the end of this year. After that, all federal benefits are scheduled to end.