In just a few weeks, over 26,000 unemployed individuals in New Jersey are going to lose out on unemployment benefits extension that they had been relying on while searching for new jobs. Thousands of people in New Jersey were out of work for quite a while, searching for employment but unable to find it. It is believed that nearly 100,000 individuals will suffer the same fate soon, as the federal unemployment benefits are expected to end within the next few months. The state of New Jersey is working on helping to improve employment all around, which is generally the reason that the extended benefits are coming to an end in New Jersey. These kinds of benefits are provided to those who have been out of work for at least 79 weeks and up to 99 weeks. Even those who are trying to get on unemployment now because they have recently lost their job are not expected to receive an extension of the benefits as soon as they reach the initial 26 weeks.

There was a federal law set back in February, which is referred to as the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. This particular law helped to extend the unemployment benefits up until the end of the year. It is possible that Congress would decide to extend the program to surpass the end of the year if necessary. The assistant commissioner for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Ronal Marino, says that when the end of the year approaches, people will automatically be cut from their unemployment benefits. Under the new law, when progress is made in the state, certain federal benefits begin to be cut off, even before the program comes to an end on December 29^th.

At the beginning of June, the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, said that at least 17,600 jobs were created during the month of May, which happened to be one of the largest job gains the state has experience in any month for nearly a decade. After Christie released this information a letter was sent out by the the United States Department of Labor. The letter state that the state could no longer provide extended benefits to unemployed individuals. Although New Jersey is known for having a higher unemployment rate than other states, it seems as though the overall employment  picture is improving, which means more available jobs for those who are seeking employment. Many are concerned, however, because the economy is not improving nearly as fast as many have hoped and the recovery process is quite sluggish.