The $300 weekly limit on how much a person can earn before unemployment benefits are affected could become permanent policy.

The state raised the limit from $55 as one of new rules being applied by the Georgia Department of Labor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the new rule, a person can earn up to $300 with no effect to their jobless benefits, including the additional $600 being supplied weekly by federal economic stimulus. The state jobless benefit is reduced by $1 for every $1 over $300 they earn.

“We’ve started preliminary discussions … to make this a permanent feature of the Georgia unemployment system,” Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said. “I think there’s a lot of advantages to it to help an individual, and it’s something we haven’t really considered in a very long time.

“We haven’t considered it recently because the economy has been so good.”

A labor department report last week said the area’s jobless rate climbed to 3.4% in March, compared to 3% at this time last year, as jobless claims piled up.

Moving forward, raising the amount to $300 “could really help an individual get back on their feet and also being able to earn some extra money,” Butler said. “That $50 threshold doesn’t really help anybody.”

 See original story from the Gainesville Times here.