Expanded unemployment benefits create a dilemma for workers as states reopen

by Leandra Bernstein

Thu, April 30th 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 18, 2020 file photo, Visitors to the Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel due to closures over coronavirus concerns in New York. Americans are seeking unemployment benefits at unprecedented levels due to the coronavirus, but many are finding more frustration than relief. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Visitors to the Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel due to closures over coronavirus concerns, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in New York. Applications for jobless benefits are surging in some states as coronavirus concerns shake the U.S. economy. The sharp increase comes as governments have ordered millions of workers, students and shoppers to stay home as a precaution against spreading the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 15, 2020, file photo, an Illinois Department of Employment Security office is closed in Chicago. At least a half-dozen states, including Illinois, already have notified the federal government that they could need to borrow billions of dollars to pay unemployment benefits because their own trust funds are running out of money. Though the shortfalls won't prevent unemployed workers from getting government aid, the federal loans could lead to higher taxes for businesses in future years to repay the debt. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

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FILE - In this Wednesday, March 18, 2020 file photo, Visitors to the Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel due to closures over coronavirus concerns in New York. Americans are seeking unemployment benefits at unprecedented levels due to the coronavirus, but many are finding more frustration than relief. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

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