DEO announces PUA now available to all eligible Floridians

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced on Tuesday that Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is now available to all eligible Floridians.

This comes after many of those individuals were denied eligibility over the past weekend.

According to DEO, 664,158 claims were processed and 40.3 percent were deemed ineligible. Of the claims that have been processed, Manatee County had 7,540 and Sarasota County had 9,281. To find out more information about the statewide claims, visit this website.

Everyone who applies for PUA, should utilize the following criteria when applying:

Individuals who applied for the state’s Reemployment Assistance benefits on or after April 5,2020, and were deemed ineligible for state reemployment assistance benefits will receive additional application information from the Department. They can also visit www.floridajobs.org/cares-act for more information regarding these programs.
Those who are self-employed, contract employees, gig workers, or others who applied for the state’s Reemployment Assistance benefits on or before April 4, 2020, should apply at www.FloridaJobs.org and select “File a Claim” to request PUA.
Unemployed Floridians who have not yet applied for any benefit should apply at www.FloridaJobs.org and will be considered for all existing programs, including PUA.

Further information about this decision by the DEO will be added at a later time and date.