JACKSON, Mississippi - Down to a weekly unemployment check of $96, Fakisha Fenderson brushed aside her doctor's advice last month and began looking for a job.In mid-May, Fenderson's employer, a door manufacturer, sent her home after a co-worker tested positive for the coronavirus.
But the 22-year-old, who is six months pregnant and has asthma, felt desperate for work after a $600-a-week federal jobless benefit expired at the end of July.Even worse, she doesn't qualify for a smaller $300-a-week check the Trump administration is now offering.
That program, announced Aug. 8, requires the jobless get at least $100 in state benefits to qualify.“It would have been such a huge help,” said Fenderson, who has a 1-year old son and lives in Laurel,.