WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak will start getting enhanced jobless benefits as soon as this week as states deploy hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid, state officials said on Tuesday.
Congress approved an additional $600 weekly payment for jobless workers as part of an unprecedented $2.3 trillion rescue package signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27.
It could take several weeks for that money to filter through federal and state bureaucracies into the bank accounts of many of the millions of Americans who have been thrown out of work.
Still, qualifying New York residents will see the additional benefit payments this week, said Deanna Cohen, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor.
Missouri and Georgia also plan to start sending out payments starting the week of April 12, officials said, and Indiana will start the week after that.
Officials in Maine and California said they have not yet figured out when they will be able to distribute the money. Other states did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Experts say some states may need several weeks to get the money out the door as they struggle to process a torrent of new unemployment claims.
“People are worried that some benefit goes out so people can pay rent on May 1. That may be a challenge,” said Michele Evermore, an analyst at the National Employment Law Project.
The enhanced jobless aid, which totals $260 billion,
