The additional $300 weekly unemployment payments for residents who qualify for COVID-19 relief will be delayed in Michigan, officials said. Congress passed a COVID-19 relief package that extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation federal unemployment programs. “This federal extension will bring much needed relief to nearly 700,000 Michigan workers who are currently receiving benefits under the PUA and PEUC programs,” said Liza Estlund Olson, acting director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency. “We will have to make updates to our systems to extend benefits and renew the FPUC $300 supplemental payments,” the release says. Year-end tax statements for anyone who received unemployment benefits in 2020 will be available online in mid-January.

LANSING, Mich. – In her last briefing before Thanksgiving, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her team were clear with their message, and favor, for next Thursday: do not gather with extended family and friends for the holiday. “By not gathering with people outside of your household this Thanksgiving, it is an act of kindness and love,” Whitmer said. “If we switch one in 10 of our out-of-state purchases to local stores, Michigan would gain $1.2. Local 4 checked with four testing sites this week in Oakland County and one had a next day appointment available and another had a nine-day wait.