The D.C. Department of Employment Services on Tuesday announced that several federal unemployment programs will expire Sept. 4 — and that all unemployment claimants will need to again prove they are searching for jobs at the end of the month.

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       D.C. will soon sunset the following federal programs: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation.

       In March, these pandemic-specific programs were extended through Sept. 6 with the passage of the federal American Rescue Plan Act, though some Republican governors moved to end the funding early. Traditional unemployment claimants will continue to be paid, DOES said in a news release.

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       Work search requirements, which were waived in the District during the pandemic, will return Aug. 30, the department said. Unemployment claimants receiving any type of benefit will be required to complete at least two work search activities each week and register with the American Job Center.

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       “DOES continues to be here for you,” Director Unique Morris-Hughes said in a statement. “If you continue struggling to find work, we have programs such as the American Job Center and the DC Infrastructure Academy, as well as people who are ready to help.”

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       DOES also said it planned to launch a revamped version of its website Wednesday, including a new portal for claimants that will feature a live chat function with representatives, mobile access and smoother navigation. The effort is part of an $11 million investment into improving DOES’s unemployment system that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced in February.

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       Many D.C. unemployment recipients faced interruptions to benefits in the past year, frustrating scores of residents who lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

       During one of the D.C. Council’s votes on the city’s 2022 budget this month, Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) successfully pitched an amendment to use $5 million to provide a one-time, $500 payment to at least 10,000 residents who waited more than 60 days to receive payments.

       DOES has received more than 225,000 unemployment claims since March 13, 2020, according to department data. As of Monday, the agency was still receiving hundreds of new claims per day.

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       More than 13,000 District unemployment claimants missed payments this spring

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