Unemployed New Yorkers will be eligible to receive an additional $300 in unemployment benefits for another three weeks, the Department of Labor announced.

The state was approved on Friday, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to keep these additional payments flowing for another three weeks, bringing the total to six weeks of additional aid.

Nearly $1.9 billion in Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) benefits have been paid out to 2.26 million New Yorkers for those first three weeks. Around 2.4 million New Yorkers were eligible.

This money represents retroactive payments of $300 for the weeks ending August 2, 9, and 16.

Although unemployment rates decreased in the month of August from 15.9 percent to 12.5 percent, more than 1 million New Yorkers are still unemployed.

The state applied last month for part of the $44 billion in federal unemployment aid made available by President Donald Trump, after talks over another federal stimulus package stalled. The $600 in additional unemployment benefits from the federal government expired at the end of July.

The second round of $300 in additional unemployment benefits, for the weeks ending August 23, August 30, and September 6 are set to start being paid out next week.

The Department of Labor estimates that 2.3 million New Yorkers will be eligible for this second wave of Lost Wages Assistance Payments.

“Over the last six months, we have moved heaven and earth to connect millions of New Yorkers with their benefits, including nearly $1.9 billion in Lost Wages Assistance payments distributed just this week,” State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said. “While plagued with administrative roadblocks, the federal lost wages assistance program is now finally providing unemployed families with much needed support — and it is unconscionable for the Federal government to once again cut Americans off from this support. Leaders in Washington D.C. must pass a comprehensive package that supports unemployed families and the state and local governments that are hurting from this pandemic. Anything less is simply unacceptable.”

In total, New York State has now paid $44.5 billion in benefits to New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that more than 21 years of benefits were paid in just six months.

Also for the fourth straight month in a row, the state saw job gains that increased over the month of August by 96,300, or 1.4 percent, to 7,198,600.