New Mexico Has Triggered Off of HUP Benefits

High Unemployment Period (HUP) Benefits to End July 9, 2011

(Albuquerque, NM) – The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions announced that New Mexico has triggered off High Unemployment Period (HUP) federal-state extended benefits. The last payable date for HUP benefits will be July 9, 2011. HUP benefits were a total of seven additional weeks of unemployment insurance benefits and were 100 percent federally funded.

“The state has seen a drop in the unemployment rate over the last three months, and HUP extended benefits have triggered off as a result of the change in the unemployment rate. Workforce Solutions is working to identify affected claimants and will be mailing information in July,” said Celina Bussey, Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

Claimants affected by the change in HUP benefits do not need to contact the unemployment insurance call center. A letter explaining how their claim is affected will be mailed in July.

HUP is part of the federal-state extended benefits program that allows for additional weeks of unemployment compensation benefits during periods of high unemployment. New Mexico has triggered off this level of extended benefits due to the drop in the statewide three-month rolling average falling below the 8.0 percent threshold necessary to qualify for HUP. The maximum unemployment insurance benefits a claimant may potentially be eligible for in New Mexico will be 86 weeks.