New York will participate in the federal government's Lost Wages Assistance program, making unemployed people eligible to receive an additional $300 a week, Governor Andrew Cuomo's top budget aide announced on Friday. 

The decision to participate came after the Trump administration will no longer require states to provide a portion of the funding. 

"Now that the federal government has blinked and will no longer make states provide funding they do not have, New York State will apply for the Lost Wages Assistance program," said Budget Director Robert Mujica.

"As Governor Cuomo has said, politics does not impact policy -- especially during a pandemic -- and if New Yorkers are in need, this administration will do everything we can to support them. But make no mistake, this does not absolve Washington from doing its job, and they must pass a comprehensive aid package that provides a stable extension of unemployment benefits, repeals the SALT cap and supports local and state governments. Anything else would simply be unacceptable."

A supplemental assistance of $600 a week for people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic expired at the start of this month. 

New York's unemployment rate in July reached 15.9 percent, though the private-sector added more than 200,000 jobs during that same time.