Business

Exclusive: U.S. Labor secretary hopes Pa. will apply for extended jobless benefits

PITTSBURGH — U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said he hopes Pennsylvania will soon be in a program that will provide expanded unemployment benefits to Americans as part of President Trump’s recent executive order.

Scalia told the Business Times in an exclusive interview that 18 states have applied to participate in the new jobless benefit program that had been established by the president’s executive order. But Pennsylvania isn’t one of them yet.

“Gov. (Tom) Wolf has said that Pennsylvania is interested in participating, and that is good news,” Scalia said. “I know that FEMA, which is helping to administer the program, looks forward to processing that application.”

Wolf’s spokeswoman, Lyndsay Kensinger, said the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry is awaiting some more information during the application process with the Federal Emergency Management Agency but still plans to apply.

Read more from our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times.