New Mexico Triggers on to Tier IV
Maximum unemployment insurance benefits at 99 weeks
(Albuquerque) – The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) announced today that the state of New Mexico has triggered on to Tier IV of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Act of 2008, effective February 13, 2011. This allows unemployed workers who have exhausted the current maximum of 93 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits to file for up to an additional six weeks of benefits.
NMDWS will be notifying claimants who may be eligible for Tier IV. These are claimants who have exhausted the regular, first, second, and third tiers of federal extended benefits and have not returned to work. The department will provide instructions for filing for the extended benefit claim, which claimants can submit beginning February 13, 2011.
Once the Department received official confirmation from the U.S. Department of Labor, we worked quickly to prepare for the Tier IV effective date and to communicate the information to potentially eligible unemployed workers,” said Celina Bussey, NMDWS Cabinet Secretary Designee.
Tier IV is the last tier of federal extended benefits and is available based on a state’s average unemployment rate. New Mexico previously triggered off of Tier IV August 14, 2010 when the state’s three month average seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate fell below the required 8.5%. Based on data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on January 25, 2011, the three month average, seasonally-adjusted rate for Colorado and New Mexico met or exceeded the 8.5% threshold to trigger on to Tier IV of the EUC program.