EUC Program Produces Cost-Saving Results

Created on June 30, 2008, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) is a 100 percent federally funded program that provides temporary extension of unemployment compensation for individuals who have exhausted all regular state benefits. To continue eligibility for these benefits, last year thousands of individuals in Missouri were contacted by Career Center staff in order to become familiar with reemployment services and take a Self-Evaluation Questionnaire and Skills Assessment.

From May to December 2012, the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment’s two Career Centers met with approximately 3,500 EUC clients to help them re-skill and refocus their job search. Statewide, over 40,000 customers were scheduled for reemployment services; several thousand were disqualified and removed from the EUC rolls.

EUC has thus achieved two primary goals: to provide every possible form of assistance to long-term unemployed who may be struggling to reenter the job market, and to enforce eligibility standards, conserving limited resources and taxpayer dollars. Recently, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extended the expiration date of the EUC program to January 1, 2014; anyone interested in applying or extending their benefits should contact their local Career Center.