Gov. Cooper orders an increase maximum unemployment benefit to $600 weekly
In Chimney Rock, Governor Roy Cooper and Mayor Peter O'Leary walk through Main Street to survey damage of the area caused from Hurricane Helene. (Pool photo/Paul Barker-Governor's Office)
Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday issued an executive order authorizing the Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Security to temporarily increase weekly unemployment payments to a maximum of $600. The maximum payment had been $350.
Many low-income and part-time workers would have received less than the maximum amount without the order. State employment benefits will remain capped at 12 weeks under the order but workers who lived or worked in counties impacted by Hurricane Helene may qualify for up to 26 weeks of federal unemployment benefits through March 29, 2025 under the Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program
The executive order will help ease the financial pressure on residents in western North Carolina who are unable to work due to storm damage, Cooper said in a statement. Cooper's order said the current state of emergency that's been declared in the aftermath of Helene provided him with the authority to act.
"As I've traveled for days around western North Carolina I've heard concern from many small business owners about their employees who are unemployed because their businesses are temporarily closed," Cooper said. "This Executive Order will increase unemployment benefits and help ease the financial burden for impacted North Carolinians as they work to recover from the storm."
Federal law requires the higher unemployment payment to apply statewide but the increased benefits are expected to go largely to workers in counties impacted by Hurricane Helene. New unemployment data show that workers from those counties make up 79% of new claims — 19,735 — since the disaster, according to Cooper's press release.
Cooper noted that only eight states have a lower weekly unemployment benefit than North Carolina. The $350 cap was set in 2013 by the Republican-led General Assembly, which slashed unemployment benefits after the state was forced to borrow $2.5 billion from the federal government after its Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund became depleted. The cuts were designed to repay the loan — which has long since been repaid.
The balance in North Carolina's fund now stands at over $4.8 billion, the second largest in the United States, the press release said.
Alexandra Sirota, executive director of the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, told NC Newsline that the disaster in Western North Carolina brings into focus the need for the state to create an unemployment benefit structure that's fair and equitable.
"For a long time, the General Assembly 's leadership has legislated based on the idea that people who lose their job through no fault of their own shouldn't get the support that they need until they can find a new job," Sirota said. "This disaster provides a clear example of the fact that people have lost work. There's nothing that they did to cause that to happen and now they don't have income to keep up with their ongoing expenses."
In addition to stabilizing incomes in western North Carolina, Sirota said, lawmakers must work to enact policies that help everyone who experiences a loss of work through no fault of their own.
The Division of Employment Security estimates that it may take between two and three weeks for individuals to see the impact of Cooper's action in their weekly benefit checks. The benefits for eligible claimants will be retroactive to September 29 and adjustment payments will be issued for benefit weeks going back to that date.
