The Unemployment Insurance Agency has added a virtual appointment option for customers needing assistance with their claims, including a dedicated link for customers who are deaf or hard of hearing utilizing voice to text closed captioning.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a $28 million investment to 12 public housing agencies to help families increase their earned income and improve their economic mobility.

📊 Minimum wage debateA hot topic right now surrounds the push to increase the federal minimum wage. While federal minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2009, more than half of the states in the country have minimum wages above the federal floor. Minimum wage facts and figuresPoverty line comparisonFederal minimum wage, as it stands, at $7.25 per hour, working 40 hours per week, amounts to $15,080 per year (gross income). Minimum wage valueAccording to analysis from the EPI, the federal minimum wage is worth 17% less than 10 years ago -- and is 31% less than in 1968, when adjusted for inflation. Source: EPI analysis of historical minimum wage data in the Fair Labor Standards Act and amendments.

LANSING, Mich. – Relief is coming to Michigan businesses after a board last week approved $58.5 million in grants for economic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic that has strained the state’s economy. It included an allocation to the Michigan Strategic Fund under the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to distribute grants to eligible businesses. The Michigan Small Business Survival Grant Program will award $55 million in grants of up to $20,000 for small businesses that were forced to close and grants of up to $15,000 for the businesses partially closed. They must also employ less than 30 full-time employees and can't apply for the Michigan Small Business Survival Grant Program. The grants are not first-come first-serve, unlike a $10 million strategic fund program in December when more than 22,000 small businesses raced for about 650 grants.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, to announce key nominees for the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

DETROIT – With little government assistance, nearly 110,000 restaurants in the United States have closed in 2020. The European Central Bank decided Thursday to increase its stimulus by $600 billion, bringing the total to $2.2 trillion to help keep businesses and workers afloat. In lieu of government assistance, one Metro Detroit business owner is trying to help his customers with the help of carry-out customers. The program runs Dec. 7- Dec. 25 and Atlas will support up to $100,000 in total. You can find ClickOnDetroit’s continually updated list of resources that assist food service workers here.