New Mexico rolls out the new $300 added unemployment benefit

SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico labor officials says they have started paying out supplemental federal unemployment benefits of $300 a week.

The Workforce Solutions Department announced Friday that it has begun processing supplemental benefits for the five week period starting on July 26. That is when a larger $600 weekly federal supplement to unemployment benefits expired.

Recipients for the new payments must already qualify for state unemployment benefits of at least $100 a week. They could receive up to $1,500 in a separate payment from standard benefits.

New Mexico was among the first state's to receive approval for the new unemployment benefits channeled through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Since March 15, the state Workforce Solutions Department has paid out more than $2 billion in assistance to more than 200,000 residents.

The statewide unemployment rate surged to 12.7% in July — a rate surpassed in just seven other states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The tourism, hospitality, arts and energy sectors have been especially hard hit.